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JAMES  PETIGRU  BOYCE,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

LATE    PRESIDENT    OF 

THE    SOUTHERN    BAPTIST   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY 
LOUISVILLE,    KY. 


BY 


JOHN    A.    BROADUS 


A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 

61  East  10"'  Street,  near  Broadway 

1893 


ixK^ 


Copyright,  1893, 
By   John   A.    Bkoadus. 


SaniiJEtstts  Press : 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Camuhidge. 


TO 


MRS.   BOYCE    AND    HER    DAUGHTERS, 

"WITH    MANY    PRECIOUS    MEMORIES    IN    COMMON, 
AND    HEARTY    PERSONAL    FRIENDSHIP, 

J.  A.  B. 


PREFACE. 


This  Memoir  has  been  prepared  by  request  of  the 
family,  and  through  strong  impulses  of  personal  affec- 
tion ;  for  we  were  of  the  same  age,  and  had  worked 
side  by  side  for  thirty  years.  But  in  depictnig  a  char- 
acter so  elevated  and  sincere,  one  feels  obliged  to 
restrain  the  natural  tendency  to  eulogium. 

I  have  especially  tried  to  represent  the  environment 
and  development  of  Dr.  Boyce's  early  life  in  Charles- 
ton, at  Brown  University,  and  at  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary,  and  to  bring  out  his  labors  as  editor  in 
Charleston,  pastor  in  Columbia,  and  professor  in  Fur- 
man  University.  The  part  which  he  took  in  the  war, 
and  in  South  Carolina  politics,  is  not  overlooked. 

As  his  recognized  life-work  was  the  foundation  and 
establishment  of  the  Soutliern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  a  biography  of  him  could  hardly  fail  to 
comprise  a  history  of  that  institution.  But  this  is  for 
the  most  part  thrown  into  distinct  chapters,  which 
some  readers  can  pass  over  if  they  like.  For  the  his- 
torical sketch  of  the  institution  I  have  carefully  used 
printed  and  manuscript  records,  besides  recollections 
which  go  back  almost  to  the  beginning  of  the  move- 
ment.    If  any  persons  interested  in  theological  educa- 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

tion  wish  really  to  understand  the  peculiar  plan  and 
operations  of  this  Seminary,  they  will  find  a  brief 
chapter  of  explanation. 

The  account  of  Dr.  Boyce's  ancestry  and  early  life 
is  most  of  all  indebted  to  Dr.  H.  A.  Tupper,  who  was 
liis  friend  from  boyhood  and  married  his  sister,  and 
who  has  written  copious  memoranda  and  furnished  a 
long  series  of  letters,  carefully  arranged,  from  which 
I  drew  many  facts  and  impressions,  besides  the 
extracts  given.  Valuable  assistance  was  also  afforded 
by  Dr.  Boyce's  sister,  Mrs.  Burckmyer,  and  by  William 
G.  Whilden,  Esq.,  Judge  B.  C.  Pressley,  and  numerous 
other  friends,  to  whom  indebtedness  will  be  found 
acknowledged  at  one  point  or  another.  The  Misses 
Boyce  have  carefully  selected  from  their  father's  let- 
ter-books all  such  as  they  thought  likely  to  be  helpful, 
and  have  written  notes  of  his  later  journeys  which 
they  shared,  and  also  personal  recollections  of  his 
home  life  and  traits  of  character,  which  are  freely 
used  in  the  closing  chapters.  I  lieartily  thank  many 
former  students  and  others  who  have  furnished 
material  for  this  labor  of  love. 

J.  A.  B. 

Louisville,  Ky., 
April  15,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIRTH   AND   ANCESTRY. 

The  Scotch- Irish. —  The  Bo3'ce  Name  and  Family. —  The  Grandfather's 
Services  and  Adventures  during  the  Revolutionary  War. —  The 
Father,  Ker  Boyce,  settles  in  Charleston  as  a  Cotton-Factor,  — 
"Weathering  a  Financial  Storm. — James  Boyce's  Mother. — Her 
CoDversion,  during  a  Sermon  by  Basil  Manly,  Sr. 

Pages  1-9. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   CITY  OF   CHARLESTON. 

Beautiful  Bay,  Islands,  and  Rivers. —  The  Rich  Planters  of  "Sea 
Island  "  Cotton.  —  The  Carolina  Aristocracy.  —  Story  of  Dr.  Jeter. 
—  Population  of  Charleston  at  Different  Periods.     Pages  10-13. 


CHAPTER  m. 

CHILDHOOD   AND   YOUTH. 

The  Namesake,  James  L.  Petigru.  —  The  "Little  Guardsman ''  at 
Church.  — Sketch  of  the  Pastor,  Basil  Manly,  Sr.  —James's  Early 
Fondness  for  Books.—  His  Archery  Club  and  Debating  Society.  — 
His  Mother's  Early  Death.  —  The  Lesson  she  once  gave  him  in 
Truthfulness.  —  His  Boyish  Care  of  the  Younger  Children,  and 
how  they  regarded  him.  —  Six  Months  in  a  Dry-Goods  Store.  — 


CONTENTS. 

Reading  the  Works  of  Gilmore  Simms,  —  At  Professor  Bailey's 
School,  and  at  the  High  School  with  Dr.  Bruus.  —  Timrod  and 
Hayne.  —  H.  H.  Tucker  his  Sunday-School  Teacher,  and  after- 
wards Judge  Piessley.  —  Hearing  Dr.  Thornwell. — At  the 
Charleston  College  under  Dr.  Brantly.  —  Tribute  of  his  Fellow- 
Student,  F.  T.  Miles.  —  Sketch  of  Dr.  Brantly,  the  Pastor  and 
President.  —  Business  and  Political  Activity  of  Mr.  Ker  Boyce. 

Pages  14-32. 


CHAPTER  ly. 

AT   BROWN   UNIVERSITY. 

Early  Interest  of  South  Carolina  Baptists  in  Brown  University.—  Sketch 
of  President  Wayland,  whom  James  Boyce  resembled  in  Impor- 
tant Respects.  —  Dr.  Wayland's  Controversy  with  Dr.  R.  Fuller  on 
Slavery.  —  Professors  Caswell,  Gammell,  Lincoln,  and  J.  R.  Boise. 
—  Various  Fellow-Students  who  became  famous. —  Visit  of  Adoni- 
ram  Judson.  —  Letters  of  Boyce  to  H.  A.  Tupper.  —  Tributes  to 
him  by  J.  R.  Boise  and  J.  H.  Luther.  —  His  Conversion,  through 
the  Influence  of  Fellow-Students  at  Brown,  and  the  Preaching  of 
Dr.  R.  Fuller  in  Charleston. — His  Zeal  on  returning  to  College, 
and  Important  Revival  there.  —  His  Studies.  —  Lively  Letter  to  a 
Charleston  Lady. — Continued  Religious  Labors. — Letters. — 
Determination  to  become  a  Minister.  —  Disappointment  of  his 
Father  and  some  others.  —  Graduated  and  licensed  to  preach. 

Pages  33-54. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MARRIAGE   AND  EDITORIAL  WORK. 

How  he  became  acquainted  at  Washington,  Ga.  —  The  Ficklen  Family. 
—  The  Village,  its  Schools  and  Society.  —  Quickly  enamoured,  and 
long  persevering.  —  How  prevented  from  studying  Theology  at 
Hamilton.  —  Marriage. —  Editor  of  "The  Southern  Baptist"  in 
Charleston.  —  Characteristics  and  Success  in  that  Capacity.  — 
Much  in  Company  with  Dr.  A,  M.  Poindexter. 

Pages  55-66. 


CONTENTS.  XI 


CHAPTER   VI. 


AT   PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,   1849-1851. 

Archibald  Alexander  and  his  Famous  Sons,  James  and  Addison.  —  Dr. 
Charles  Hodge.  —  Fellow-Students,  Presbyterian  and  liaptist.  — 
Very  laborious,  his  Wife  aiding  by  copying  Notes. —  Preaching  olten 
at  the  Penn's  Neck  Baptist  Church,  near  Princeton. —  The  Earlie&t 
Sermon  that  remains. —  A  Vacation  with  the  Ficklens  in  Virginia, 
preaching  every  Sunday.  —  Letters  to  Mr.  Tupper,  now  his  Brother- 
in-law.  —  Plans  on  leaving  Princeton     .      .     .     Pages  67-83. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

PASTOR   AT   COLUMBIA,    S.  C,    1851-1855. 

The  City,  its  Surroundings  and  Beautiful  Homes.  —  Capitol,  South 
Carolina  College,  Piesbyterian  Theological  Seminary, —  The  Baptist 
Church  in  Columbia,  and  his  Ministerial  Labors.  —  Getting  a 
Strong  Hold  upon  the  Colored  People.  —  Setting  up  a  Home.  —  His 
Father's  Death  there.  —  Closing  Estimates  of  Mr.  Ker  Boyce.  — 
The  Young  Minister  left  as  Active  Executor.  —  At  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  in  1855 Pages  84-99. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

PROFESSOR   OF   THEOLOGY   IN   FURMAN   UNIVERSITY. 

History  of  the  Furman  Institution  from  1827,  and  its  "Removal  to  Green- 
ville in  1851,  as  Furman  University.  —  lioyce  elected  to  its 
Theological  Department  in  1855.  —  Sketches  of  Pivsidont  Furman 
and  Professors  Judson,  Edwards,  and  others.  —  Boyce's  Anxiety  to 
have  another  Theological  Professor.  —  His  Faithful  Labors.  — 
Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Senator  A.  P.  Butler  .  Pages  100-110. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX, 


FOUNDATION   OF   THE    SOUTHERN   BAPTIST    THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY. 

Almost  every  Baptist  College  began  with  a  Theological  Department.  — 
Young  Basil  Manly  and  others  going  to  Newton,  in  Massachusetts. 

—  Separation  of  Northern  and  Southern  Baptists,  in  1845.  — Idea 
of  a  Common  Theological  School  for  all  Southern  Baptists. —  Various 
Consultations,  at  Augusta  1845,  Nashville  and  Charleston  1849,  in 
Virginia  1854  ;  in  Educational  Conventions,  at  Montgomery  1855, 
Augusta  1856.  —  James  P.  Boyce's  Address  in  1856  at  Furman 
University  on  "Three  Changes  in  Theological  Institutions."  — 
Copious  Extracts  from  this  Epoch-Making  Address. —  His  Views 
compared  with  those  of  President  AV  ay  land.  Three  Years  before, 
in  "  The  Apostolic  Ministry." — Proposition  of  the  South  Carolina 
Baptists  accepted  by  an  Educational  Convention  in  LouisviUe,  1857. 

—  Professor  Boyce  at  work  as  Agent  in  South  Carolina.  —  Final 
Convention  at  Greenville,  1858,  organizing  the  Seminary.  — 
Opening  delayed  a  Year Pages  111-154. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   seminary's   PLAN   OF   INSTRUCTION. 

Its  Aim  to  give  Theological  Instruction  to  Men  in  every  Grade  of 
General  Education. —  How  could  these  work  together  ?  —  System  of 
Independent  "Schools,"  like  the  University  of  Virginia.  —  Every 
Man's  Studies  completely  elective. —  List  of  the  Seminary's  Schools, 
or  Departments. —  Great  Stress  laid  upon  the  Study  of  the  English 
Scriptures. —  Remarkable  Experiences  in  that  Direction. —  How  the 
Plan  has  worked,  with  even  Unexpected  Good  Results.  —  Peculiar- 
ities as  to  Graduation.  —  New  Degrees  recently  introduced,  and 
New  Titles.  —  Wide  Range  of  Special  Studies. 

Pages  155-165. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   seminary's   THREE   FIRST   SESSIONS,  1859-1862. 

The  Town  of  Greenville  and  its  Environs.  —  The  Four  Professors.  — 
Some  of  the  First  Students.  —  Opening  full  of  Encouragement.  — 
Dr.  Boyce's  Country  Pastorate.  —  His  Kindness  to  the  Students. 
—  Dedicating  tlie  New  Church  at  Columbia. —  Second  Session  dis- 
turbed by  the  Great  Political  Excitement.  —  Visiting  P'ort  Sumter 
after  its  Capture  by  South  Carolina  Troops. —  Third  Session  greatly 
hindered  by  the  War. —  Dr.  Boyce's  Correct  Forecast  as  to  Duration 
of  the  War. —  His  Diligence  in  Study  amid  so  many  Interruptions. 

Pages  166-182. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DR.  boyce's   part   IN   THE   WAR. 

Opposed  to  Secession,  but  went  with  his  State.  —  Fearing  a  Long  and 
Bloody  War. —  Prospect  of  Heavy  Financial  Losses.  —  Chaplain  in 
Confederate  Army. —  Member  of  the  South  Carolina  Legislature. — 
Important  Bill  and  Speech  as  to  helping  the  Confederate  Finances. 
—  Extracts  from  the  Speech.  —  Aide-de-Camp  to  the  Governor.  — 
His  House  at  Greenville  plundered  by  Union  Soldiers. 

Pages  183-197. 


CHAPTER  XIII.    • 

FIRST   SIX   YEARS   AT    GREENVILLE   AFTER  THE  WAR, 
1865-1871. 

The  Seminary  reopened,  with  very  Few  Students,  and  Ruined  Finances.— 
Working  for  the  Future. —  Dr.  Boyce's  Personal  Losses  and  Embar- 
rassments, and  Great  Exertions  to  collect  Support  for  the  Seminary. 

—  Salaries  once  a  Whole  Year  in  Arrears,  amid  the  High  Prices. 

—  Southern  Interest  in  Higher  Education,  and  Real  Generosity  of 
many. —  Boyce  refusing  Offers  of  Large  Salary.  —  Number  of  Stu- 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

dents  slowly  increasing. —  Finances  improving,  and  (1869)  a  Fifth 
Professor  appointed,  C.  H.  Toy,  —  Dr.  Boyce's  Sermon  at  the 
Funeral  of  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  Sr.  —  Extracts.  —  Professor  B.  Manly, 
Jr.,  goes  to  be  President  of  Georgetown  College,  Ky. 

Pages  198-217. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SERIES   OF   EFFORTS   TO    REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY. 

What  had  become  of  the  Original  Subscribed  Endowment.  —  Necessity 
for  Removal  slowly  recognized.  —  Various  Suggestions  and  Proposi- 
tions, from  1869  onward. —  Otfer  to  make  Boyce  President  of  Brown 
University.  — Decision  in  1872  to  remove  the  Seminary  to  Louis- 
ville. —  Professor  W.  H.  Whitsitt  elected  in  1872. —Dr.  Boyce 
yields  the  Chair  of  Systematic  Theology  to  Dr.  Williams. —  Elected 
President  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  1872-1879.  — 
Removes  his  Family  to  Louisville,  1872. — Letters  to  J.  O.  B. 
Dargan  and  Mrs.  Butler.  —  Grave  Difficulties  encountered  at 
Louisville,  and  Opposition  of  some  Excellent  Men. —  Financial 
Collapse  of  1873. —  Boyce's  Great  Speech  before  a  Meeting  in  Louis- 
ville, and  another  before  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in  1873. 
—  Remarkable  Contributions  in  Texas,  and  at  the  Baptist  Anniver- 
saries in  Washington  City.  —  Tour  of  Kentucky,  —  Long  Series  of 
Efforts  to  secure  Endowment  in  Kentucky  and  elsewhere. —  Preach- 
ing much  in  Louisville.  —  Work  of  the  Seminary  at  Greenville.  — 
Failing  Health  of  Dr.  Williams,  and  his  Death.  —  Sketch,  and. 
Tribute  by  Dr.  Curry.  —  Removal  of  the  Seminary  to  Louisville  in 
1877 Pages  218-250. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

TEN   BUSY   YEARS   IN   THE    SEMINARY    AT   LOUISVILLE, 

1877-1887. 

Extracts  from  Dr.  Boyce's  Opening  Lecture  on  History  of  the  Seminary. 
—  Professors  cordially  received  in  Louisville.  —  Dr.  Boyce  again 
teaching  Theology.  —  Number  of  Students  much  increased.  — 
Resignation  of  Dr.  Toy  (1879),  and  Return  of  Dr.  Manly.  — Dr. 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Boyce's  Work  as  a  Teacher.  —  His  Method  of  Instniction  in  The- 
ology.—  His  Love  of  Turrettin,  and  Class  in  "  Latin  Theology." — 
His  Teaching  in  Church  Government,  Pastoral  Duties,  and  Parlia- 
mentary Practice.  —  His  New  Studies  in  Various  Directions.  — 
Seminary's  Financial  Condition  unsatisfactory,  and  Boyce's  Labors 
and  Journeys. —  The  Institution  saved  by  a  Single  Gift,  in  Answer 
to  Prayer,  with  Further  Gifts  in  Louisville  and  New  York.  —  More 
Students.  —  Assistant-Professor  G,  W.  Riggan.  —  Need  of  Ground 
and  Buildings.  —  New  York  Hall. —  Death  of  Riggan. —  Assistant- 
Professors  J.  R.  Sampey  and  A.  T.  Robertson.  —  Letters  of  Boyce 
to  his  Sister  and  others,  to  M.  T.  Yates  and  other  Missionaries. 

Pages  251-303. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

PUBLISHED   AND   UNPUBLISHED  WRITINGS. 

Brief  Catechism  of  Bible  Doctrine.  —  Abstract  of  Theology.  —  History 
of  its  Production.  —  Adapted  to  his  Method  of  Class  Instruction, 
but  very  useful  also  to  Working  Preachers.  —  Highly  Favorable 
Notices  in  the  "  Standard  "  and  the  "  Independent."  — Mention 
of  Various  Sermons,  Lectures,  and  Essays,  which  ought  to  be 
published Pages  30i-313. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH. 

Occasional  Attacks  since  1871.  —  Overwork.  —  Co-Professor  F.  H. 
Kerfoot  in  1887.  —  Various  Letters,  one  to  William  E.  Dodge,  of 
New  York.  —  Journey  with  Family  to  California  and  Alaska.  — 
Notes  of  Miss  Boyce.  —  Assault  on  Dr.  Manly,  impairing  his 
Health.  —  Dr.  Boyce  once  more  presiding  in  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  1888.  —  Voyage  with  Family  to  Europe.  —  Letters.  — 
Miss  Boyce's  Notes  of  their  Travels  in  England  and  Scotland.  — 
Very  ill  in  London.  —Death  of  two  Sisters.  —  Letters.  —Sojourn 
in  Paris,  with  Failing  Strength.  —  Death  at  Pan,  in  the  South  of 
France,  Dec.  28,  1888.  —  Funeral  from  Broadway  Church,  Louis- 
ville. —  Memorial  Meetings Pages  314-344. 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GENERAL   ESTIMATES   OF   CHARACTER. 

Various  Qualities  stated,  with  Numerous  Extracts  from  Memorial  and 
Funeral  Addresses,  from  Letters  of  Students  and  other  Friends,  and 
from  Miss  Boyce's  Notes Pages  345-371 


MEMOIR 


OF 


JAMES     PETIGRU     BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIRTH  AND    ANCESTRY. 

JAMES  PETIGRU  BOYCE  was  born  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  January  11,  1827.     His  father,  Ker 

Boyce,  had  removed  ten  years  before  from  Newberry  Dis- 
trict.^ This  large  district,  or  county,  lies  in  the  fine 
central  region  of  South  Carolina,  which  is  rolling  and 
healthful,  and  near  enough  to  navigable  streams  to  have 
been  earlier  developed  than  the  upper  portions  of  the  State, 
towards  the  Blue  Ridge.  An  enthusiastic  old  citizen  is 
reported  to  have  said:  ''  South  Carolina  is  the  garden  spot 
of  the  world,  and  Newberry  District  is  the  garden  spot  of 
South  Carolina.'' 

^^Tiile  the  early  settlers  of  South  Carolina  were  chiefly 
English,  there  were  two  other  considerable  elements, 
which  have  always  been  highly  influential  in  the  business, 
politics,  and  society  of  the  State,  —  the  Huguenots  and 
the  Scotch-Irish.      These  last  are  a  people  who  have  made 

1  The  terra  "district"  was  always  used  in  South  Carolina  until  the 
Reconstruction  legislation  of  1866  changed  it  to  "county."  The  dis- 
tricts near  the  coast  were  subdivided  into  parishes,  some  of  which  had 
separate  representation  in  the  State  Legislature. 

1 


^  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

themselves  felt  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  They  went  from 
Scotland  centuries  ago  to  the  adjacent  portions  of  Ireland, 
and  liav^e  continued  to  occupy  all  the  northeastern  part  of 
that  island,  having  Belfast  and  Londonderry  as  their  chief 
cities,  and  keeping  themselves  mainly  distinct  from  the 
properly  Irish  population.  They  followed  the  example 
of  their  kinsmen  in  Scotland  in  becoming  Protestant  and 
Presbyterian,  and  they  now  constitute  an  important  factor 
in  the  possibilities  and  the  difficulties  of  Home  Rule  in 
Ireland. 

The  father  of  Ker  Bo^^ce  was  John  Boyce,  who  was 
born  in  Ireland.  The  family  name  is  still  common  in 
northeastern  Ireland  and  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States.^     John  Boyce  removed  to  the  British  colonies  of 

1  Prof.  James  R.  Boise,  formerly  of  Brown  University,  and  now 
Emeritus  Professor  in  the  Divinity  School  of  Chicago  University,  in  a 
letter  of  February,  1889  (after  James  P.  Boyce's  death),  from  which 
we  shall  hereafter  quote  further,  says,  "I  had  correspondence  with  him 
a  few  years  ago  respecting  the  various  forms  of  our  name  ;  and  the  result 
may  be  interesting  to  some  of  his  relatives  and  numerous  friends.  By 
the  aid  of  encyclopaedias  and  biographical  dictionaries  we  arrived  at 
the  following  list,  showing  that  the  name  is  found  in  Greek,  Latin, 
German,  Italian,  French,  and  English  ;  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  other 
forms  might  be  found  :  Bor)d6s,  Bo7]d6os,  Boethius,  Boetius,.  Boethe, 
Boecius,  Boece,  Boecio,  Boezio,  Bois,  Boice,  Boyce,  Boyse,  Boise,  Boies, 
Boyes,  Boys,  Boyis,  Boiss,  Boeis."  There  is  some  reason  to  believe 
that  all  were  primarily  of  Huguenot  origin,  their  ancestors  having 
emigrated,  when  banished  from  France,  to  the  north  of  Ireland,  where 
they  found  Protestant  sympathy.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  mention 
that  about  1786  Gilbert  Boj^ce  is  spoken  of  as  an  English  Baptist 
minister,  and  that  a  collection  of  hymns  published  in  England  in  1801 
contained  twenty-one  hymns  by  Samuel  Boyse  (Diet.  Hymn.,  p.  167). 
Dr.  Hubert  Boyce,  author  of  an  important  medical  work,  is  now  a 
medical  professor  in  University  College,  London.  We  learn  further, 
through  the  researches  of  Samuel  Wilson,  of  Richmond,  that  persons 
named  Boj'^ce  were  early  prominent  in  Virginia.  Chyna  (Cheney)  Boyse 
came  over  in  1617,  and  was  of  the  Assembly  of  Burgesses  in  1629; 
John  Boys  was  of  that  body  in  1619,  both  representing  Charles  City 
county.    Several  others  appear  among  the  immigiants  of  that  century. 


BIRTH   AND   ANCESTRY.  S 

North  America  in  1765.  In  1777  he  married  Elizabeth 
Miller,  daughter  of  David  IMiller,  of  Eutherford,  North 
Carolina,  and  shortly  after  settled  in  Newberry  District, 
about  fifteen  miles  north  of  the  town  of  Newberry,  in  a 
section  which  has  for  man}^  years  been  called  iMollohon. 
He  thus  began  his  married  life  in  the  midst  of  the  Revo- 
lution. The  battle  of  Fort  Moultrie  had  been  fought 
in  June,  1776.  On  the  loth  of  January,  1778,  the  city 
of  Charleston  was  set  on  fire,  —  according  to  the  popular 
supposition  by  ''partisans  of  the  British,''  —  and  lost  two 
hundred  and  thirty-two  houses,  valued  at  half  a  million  of 
pounds  sterling.  In  the  spring  of  this  year  the  Schophel- 
ites,  followers  of  Colonel  Schophel,  a  militia  colonel  whom 
Moultrie  called  ''an  illiterate,  stupid,  nois}"  blockhead, " 
organized  in  South  Carolina  and  moved  across  the,  Savan- 
nah River  to  form  a  junction  with  the  British  troops  in 
St.  Augustine,  Florida.  It  was  expected  that  these  troops 
would  invade  South  Carolina,  and  the  military  prowess  of 
the  Carolinians  was  greatl}'  aroused.  Alexander  Bo3'ce,  a 
brother  of  John  not  otherwise  known  to  us,^  obtained  a 
commission  as  captain;  and  as  a  private  in  his  brother's 
company,  John  had  his  first  military  experience.  At  the 
siege  of  Savannah,  Captain  Alexander  Boyce,  on  the  9th 
of  November,  1779,  in  a  gallant  attempt  to  carry  the 
British  line,  fell  at  the  head  of  his  compan3\  John  Boyce 
afterwards  joined  a  company  commanded  by  Captain  (sub- 
sequently Colonel)  Dugan,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Black- 
stocks,  King's  Mountain,  Cowpens,  and  Eutaw.  After  one 
of  these  battles  he  returned  home  for  a  brief  visit,  but 
had  scarcely  seated  himself  to  eat  when  he  was  startled 

1  Xor  do  we  know  what  kin  to  John  and  Alexander  was  James 
Boyce,  who  also  came  from  Ireland  to  North  Carolina  before  the  Revo- 
lution, settling  near  Charlotte.  He  was  an  eminently  religious  man, 
and  highly  respected.  His  grandson  is  Rev.  Ebenezer  Erskine  Boyce, 
D.D.,  of  Gastonia,  N.  C,  and  the  latter's  son  is  Eev.  James  Boyce,  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  minister  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church. 


4  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

b}'  t!ie  approach  of  horses.  Springing  to  the  door,  he 
found  himself  confronted  b}-  a  party  of  Tories,  headed 
by  the  celebrated  partisan  William  Cunningham,  and  an- 
other man  equally  dreaded,  named  McCombs.  Hurling 
his  hat  into  the  faces  of  the  horses,  which  made  them 
open  right  and  left,  he  rushed  through  the  opening  to- 
wards the  woods,  not  reaching  them  till  he  had  lost  three 
fingers  from  his  uplifted  arm,  by  a  furious  blow  of  Cun- 
ningham's sabre.  When  the  Tories  withdrew,  he  hurried 
to  the  house,  that  his  hand  might  be  bound  up;  then  joined 
his  company,  and  before  night  was  in  pursuit  of  the  mur- 
derous marauders.  On  the  Enoree  River,  near  the  mouth 
of  Duncan's  Creek,  they  captured  eleven  or  twelve  of  the 
party,  and  among  them  McCombs.  *' These  were  con- 
veyed to  the  place  where  the  Charleston  road  crosses  the 
old  ]S"inety-Six  road  (now  Whitmire's),  and  there  a  ^  short 
shrift,'  a  strong  rope  and  a  stooping  hickory,  applied 
speedy  justice  to  them  all.  A  common  grave,  at  the  root 
of  the  tree,  is  their  resting-place  for  all  time. 

*^  On  another  occasion  Mr.  John  Boyce  was  captured, 
and  tied  in  his  own  barn,  while  a  bed-cord  was  sought  for 
to  hang  him  ;  his  negro  man  (long  afterwards  known  as 
Old  Sandy),  being  hid  in  the  straw,  while  the  captors  were 
absent  on  their  fell  purpose  arose  to  the  rescue,  untied 
his  master,  and  both  made  good  their  escape.  .  .  .  These 
are  a  few  of  the  hairbreadth  escapes  which  tried  the  men 
of  that  dark  and  bloody  period,  when  home,  sweet  home, 
could  not  be  enjoyed  for  a  moment  without  danger,  and 
w^hen  wife  and  children  had  to  be  left  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  bloody,  thundering  Tories."  The  late  John  Bel- 
ton  O'Xeall,  Chief-Justice  of  South  Carolina,  from  whose 
*^  Annals  of  New^berry  "  the  above  details  are  taken,  adds: 
**  John  Boyce  lived  long  after  the  war,  enjoying  the  rich 
blessings  of  the  glorious  liberty  for  which  he  had  perilled 
so  much.  He  lost  his  wife  in  1797,  and  died  in  1806, 
leaving  seven  sons  and  a  daughter,  Robert,  John,  David, 


BIRTH   AND  ANCESTRY.  5 

Alexander,  Ker,  James,  Andrew,  and  Mary,"  It  will  be 
noticed  that  several  of  these  sons  bore  familiar  Scottish 
names.  It  is  a  family  tradition  that  he  and  all  the  seven 
sons  were  noted  for  their  wit,  and  fond  of  practical  jokes; 
and  many  anecdotes  are  preserved  which  show  how  the  old 
gentleman,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  and  eighty,  still  en- 
joyed getting  the  best  of  ''the  boys."  We  shall  find  this 
characteristic  fully  inherited  by  Ker  Boyce  and  by  his  son 
James. 

Judge  O'Neall  says  that  John  Boyce  was  "a  well-in- 
formed, though  not  a  well-educated,  man,  who  had  read 
much,  and  exercised  a  just  and  wholesome  influence  in  the 
section  where  he  lived.  He  was  a  Presb^^terian  and  an 
elder  in  McClintock's  church.  Gilders  Creek,  and  his  re- 
mains rest  in  the  graveyard  of  that  church."  His  sons 
all  led  industrious  and  prosperous  lives,  making  them- 
selves favorably  known  in  Newberry,  Laurens,  Union,  and 
elsewhere,  and  no  doubt  permanently  influenced  by  the 
"Let  us  worship  God,"  heard  night  and  morning  in  the 
home  of  their  youth.  A  son  t)f  Eobert  was  Hon.  William 
W.  Boyce,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  United  States 
Congress  and  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  and  a  prominent 
lawyer,  who  spent  his  last  years  in  Washington  city  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  died  in  1889. 

Beyond  the  general  good  influence  of  the  home  and  the 
church,  we  know  nothing  as  to  the  early  life  of  Ker  Boyce, 
born  April  8,  1787,  save  that  he  was  mirthful  and  mis- 
chievous, so  that  some  imagined  he  would  not  succeed 
well  in  business,  but  found  themselves  very  much  mis- 
taken. His  educational  advantages  were  limited,  but 
he  showed  a  quick  and  bright  intelligence.  After  some 
experience  as  clerk  in  a  store,  he  established  himself  as  a 
merchant  in  the  town  of  Newberry,  and  steadily  prospered. 
In  1812  the  Legislature  elected  him  to  be  tax-collector 
for  Newberry  District  over  several  opponents,  and  it  is 
related  that  he  showed  much  electioneering  skill  in  deal- 


6  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

ing  with  the  members,  aided  by  his  contagious  good  humor 
and  wit.  In  the  year  1813,  when  the  second  war  with 
Great  Britain  interrupted  communication  by  sea  with 
the  Northern  States,  Mr.  Boyce  began  to  trade  overland 
with  Philadelphia.  Cotton  was  hauled  from  Newberry  to 
Philadelphia  in  wagons,  which  then  brought  back  goods 
purchased  there  by  the  young  merchant,  who  made  the 
journey  on  horseback.  In  1815  he  and  a  friend  went  on 
horseback  to  Amelia  Island  (off  the  Forida  coast,  near 
Fernandina),  purchasing  a  stock  of  goods  which  was  there 
for  sale,  and  transporting  it  to  Newberry  by  wagons. 

In  1815  Ker  Boyce  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  Johns- 
ton, of  Newberry.  She  and  also  his  second  wife  (the 
mother  of  James  P.  Boyce)  were  sisters  of  Job  Johnston, 
who  was  distinguished  as  a  chancellor.  The  following 
account  of  their  father  was  copied  from  a  Family  Bible  by 
Hon.  Silas  Johnston,  of  Newberry:  ^'John  Johnstown 
[note  the  spelling]  was  born  in  the  county  of  London- 
derry, Ireland,  and  married  Mary  Caldwell,  daughter  of 
Job  Caldwell,  in  the  same  county,  Jul}^  2,  1785.  The 
father  of  John  was  David  Johnstown,  whose  w^fe  was  Mary 
Boyd,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Boyd,  who  served 
on  the  side  of  King  William  at  the  siege  of  Londonderry, 
in  the  year  1689.  (  Vide  Smollett's  History  of  England.)  " 
So  we  see  that  the  mother  also  of  James  P.  Boyce  was  of 
a  Scotch-Irish  family,  and  they  too  were  Presbyterians. 
Nancy  Johnston  was  born  in  Fairfield,  S.  C,  Oct.  9,  1795, 
and  married  July  11,  1812.  Judge  O'Neall  remarks, 
''No    more  lovely  woman   ever  blessed  a  husband." 

In  1817,  two  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  Eng- 
land, it  became  manifest  that  there  were  great  possibilities 
for  the  cotton  trade  from  Charleston  to  the  Northern  cities 
and  to  Europe.  Our  far-seeing  and  enterprising  young 
merchant  became  dissatisfied  with  Newberry,  as  too  narrow 
a  field,  and  too  far  from  the  sea.  So  he  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Samuel  Johnston,  formed  a  co-partnership,  and  com- 


BIRTH   AND   ANCESTRY.  7 

menced  business  as  merchants  in  King  Street,  Charleston. 
Subsequently  they  transferred  their  business  to  "The 
Bay  "  and  became  factors  and  commission-merchants.  The 
term  *' factor,"  according  to  its  original  use,  might  suggest 
that  such  men  were  only  the  agents  of  the  cotton-planters, 
to  sell  their  cotton  and  buy  their  plantation  supplies.  But 
the  leading  cotton  factors  soon  began  to  advance  money  on 
the  cotton,  and  themselves  furnish  the  supplies.  They 
would  often  provide  these  for  the  current  year,  taking  the 
planter's  obligation  to  pay  with  interest  when  the  cotton 
should  be  sold,  or  taldng  a  lien  on  the  crop,  which  was 
sometimes  specially  authorized  by  law.  Thus  the  cotton 
factors  frequently  became  operators  on  an  extensive  scale, 
and  men  of  great  business  talents  had  opportunity^  for 
large  acquisitions  of  wealth.  Judge  O'Neall  tells  us  that 
Mr.  Samuel  Johnston  '^was  the  most  perfect  man  of  busi- 
ness "  he  ever  knew.  He  credits  both  the  young  part- 
ners with  ''an  excellent  judgment,"  and  ascribes  to  Mr. 
Boyce  ''tireless  energy  and  activity."  So  the  firm  made 
large  profits,  and  rose  rapidly  to  financial  power.  But  Mr. 
Johnston's  health  gave  wa}^,  and  he  died  of  consumption 
in  1822.  A  Mr.  Henry  had  been  associated  with  them, 
and  the  firm  was  for  some  3'ears  Bo^'ce  and  Henry,  and 
then  Boyce,  Henry,  and  Walter. 

"In  1823  Mr.  Boyce  sustained  the  first  great  misfor- 
tune of  his  life,"  in  the  death  of  his  admirable  wife,  who 
lies  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Newberry.  She  left  three 
children,  — John  Johnston,  Samuel  J.,  and  Mary  C,  who 
became  Mrs.  William  Lane. 

In  1825  occurred  one  of  the  great  periodical  revulsions 
in  trade  and  finance.  At  such  times  cotton  factors  are 
exposed  to  peculiar  danger,  when  from  the  beginning  of 
the  year  they  have  made  large  advances  in  supplies  to 
planters,  expecting  to  borrow  money  as  needed,  and  replace 
it  all  when  the  cotton  should  be  sold  the  next  winter. 
When    the  banks  shut  down,   and    private   loans  become 


8  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

impossible,  the  cotton  factor  of  large  connections  is  apt  to 
o-o  under.  Mr.  Boyce's  firm  is  said  by  our  authority  to  have 
accumulated  by  this  time  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  put 
the  whole  of  it  in  requisition  to  save  his  business,  but  this 
would  by  no  means  have  sufficed.  Mr.  Blackwood,  presi- 
dent of  the  Planters'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,  had  closely 
observed  Mr.  Boyce's  business  talents  and  character,  and 
told  him  that  the  bank  would  furnish  him  funds  to  any 
needed  extent.  In  all  pursuits  and  relations,  personal 
character  tells.  We  learn  (from  an  obituary)  that  at  this 
time  Mr.  Boyce  also  upheld  various  other  men,  in  whom 
with  his  remarkable  insight  he  put  just  confidence,  and 
enabled  them  to  tide  over  the  time  of  danger. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year,  Oct.  25,  1825,  Ker  Boyce 
formed  a  second  marriage,  with  his  previous  wife's  younger 
sister,  Amanda  Jane  Caroline  Johnston,  born  Dec.  3, 
1806.  Her  children  were  five;  namely,  James,  Nancy 
(Mrs.  H.  A.  Tupper),  Eebecca  (Mrs.  Burckmyer),  Ker 
(or  Kerr),  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Lawrence).  This  young  wife, 
the  mother  of  James,  is  described  as  singularly  attractive 
and  admirable.  Thus  Dr.  H.  A.  Tupper  says:  '^A  more 
gentle  and  lovelier  Christian  woman  never  lived.  Her 
person  had  the  frail  beauty  of  the  lily;  her  character,  the 
rich  fragrance  of  the  rose.  The  writer,  as  a  little  boy, 
knew  her  well  and  admired  her  greatly.  Tristram  Shandy 
says  a  man's  history  begins  before  his  birth.  The  almost 
womanly  gentleness  and  amiability  of  James  P.  Boyce 
may  be  clearly  traced  to  his  mother,  —  just  as  his  hard 
common-sense,  great  executive  ability,  and  deep  vein  of 
humor  may  be  with  equal  readiness  traced  to  his  father 
and  his  paternal  grandfather." 

It  cannot  be  ascertained  under  what  precise  circum- 
stances Mr.  Boyce  and  his  wife,  though  both  reared  in 
Presbyterian  families,  began  to  attend  the  ministry  of  the 
young  Baptist  pastor,  Basil  Manly  (see  below  in  chapter 
iii.).     In  November,  1830,  the  pastor  felt  bound,  for  some 


BIRTH  AND   ANCESTRY.  9 

highly  important  reason,  to  attend  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention, tliough  one  of  his  children  was  very  ill.  He  and 
his  wife  prayed  for  direction,  and  decided  that  he  must  go ; 
and  all  matters  at  the  convention  were  sat isf actor il}'  ar- 
ranged. Keturning,  he  found  that  the  child,  named  John, 
had  died  and  been  buried.  It  was  hard  for  him  to  preach 
on  the  following  Sunday;  but  under  a  similar  sense  of  duty 
he  did  preach,  taking  as  his  text  Genesis  xliii.  14:  '<  If 
I  be  bereaved  of  my  children,  I  am  bereaved."  ^  Through 
that  sermon  Mrs.  Ker  Boyce  was  converted;  and  others 
were  known  to  have  been  specially  blessed,  as  well  as  the 
preacher  himself.  In  after  years  he  would  sometimes  tell 
of  these  events,  as  showing  that  it  is  always  best  for  us  to 
subordinate  personal  and  family  affection  to  the  claims  of 
duty  in  the  service  of  Christ.  And  who  would  have 
thought  that  Mrs.  Boyce's  little  boy,  near  the  same  age  as 
the  one  he  had  lost,  was  in  the  course  of  Providence  to 
preach  Basil  ]\Ianly's  funeral  sermon,  with  grateful  recog- 
nition of  the  good  done  by  that  day's  discourse?^ 

1  The  notes  made  in  preparing  are  still  in  existence,  and  are  singu- 
larly interesting  and  suggestive.  Every  thought  comes  right  out  of  the 
text  or  the  occasion,  and  the  tone  is  healthy  and  uplifting. 

2  In  October,  1891,  the  venerable  and  greatly  beloved  widow  of  Dr. 
Manly  recited  the  circumstances  of  her  child's  death  in  a  letter  to  a  be- 
reaved young  mother,  and  added  :  "  The  Lord  was  with  us  both,  and 
strengthened  us  for  our  duties.  I  can  truly  say  He  comforted  us,  and 
has  ever  been  to  us  a  tender,  loving  Father.  Never  doubt  His  tender 
mercies,  my  child,  but  trust  in  Him,  and  He  will  sustain  and  com- 
fort you." 


10  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    CITY   OF    CHARLESTON. 

CHARLESTON  has  always  been  the  most  important 
city  on  the  southern  Atlantic  coast.  Its  harbor  is 
not  so  extensive  as  that  of  Port  Royal,  farther  south  in  the 
same  State,  but  was  far  better  adapted  to  defence  against 
assaults  from  the  sea.  Its  advantages  in  this  respect 
attracted  world-wide  observation  during  the  War  of  Se- 
cession. The  principal  channel  across  the  bar  has  some 
sixteen  feet  water  at  ebb  tide,  wdiich  sufficed  for  the 
largest  sea-going  vessels  until  recent  times.  Since  1891 
jetties  have  been  built  by  Congressional  appropriations, 
which  are  beginning  to  wash  out  the  bar;  and  it  is  hoped 
they  will  so  deepen  the  channel  as  to  receive  the  largest 
ocean  steamers  of  to-day,  and  thus  greatly  increase  the 
prosperity  of  this  ancient  seaport.  The  site  of  the  city 
is  beautiful.  The  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers,  as  they 
approach  the  sea,  run  a  parallel  course  for  nearly  six  miles, 
at  no  great  distance  apart,  but  somewhat  widening  towards 
the  point  at  which  they  flow  into,  or  in  one  sense  consti- 
tute, the  bay.  On  this  peninsula  between  the  rivers  the 
city  is  built.  The  lower  end,  fronting  the  bay,  is  known 
as  the  Battery, —  doubtless  because  (as  in  New  York)  bat- 
teries were  early  placed  there  for  defence  against  hostile 
ships.  The  Cooper  River,  on  the  northeastern  side  of  the 
city,  and  the   Ashley,^  on  the    other   side,   are    pleasing 

1  The  rivers  of  South  Carolina  mostly  retain  their  Indian  names,  as 
Santee,  Pedee,  Wateree,  Congaree,  Enoree,  Edisto,  Ashepoo,  Saluda,  etc. 
So  the  two  rivers  here  mentioned  were  called  Etivvan  and  Kiawah,  hut 


THE   CITY  OF  CHARLESTON.  11 

streams,  and  after  their  union  the  bay  winds  its  way  out 
for  some  seven  miles  southeastward  to  the  ocean,  with 
islands  on  either  side  that  produce  a  picturesque  effect, 
besides  affording  great  facilities  for  defence.  Sullivan's 
Island,  on  the  northeastern  side  of  the  bay,  has  long  been 
the  seat  of  summer  homes  for  some  of  the  citizens.  Here 
is  situated  Eort  jNIoultrie,  successor  to  that  palmetto  fort 
which  in  177G  resisted  the  bombardment  of  the  British 
fleet,  and  fairly  drove  it  away.  The  cannon-balls  might 
penetrate  into  the  palmetto  logs,  but  their  peculiar  tough- 
ness of  texture  received  and  held  the  iron  masses,  without 
weakening  the  fortification.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
harbor  lie  James's  Island  and  Morris  Island,  which  be- 
came so  famous  during  the  recent  war.  Between  Morris 
and  Sullivan's  Island,  upon  a  shoal  in  the  harbor,  and 
covering  the  main  channel,  is  Fort  Sumter,  which  was 
first  built  when  James  P.  Boyce  was  a  child,  but  in  fact 
was  not  entirely  completed  when  it  became  the  theatre  of 
the  celebrated  bombardment  and  defence.-'  On  a  smaller 
shoal  and  much  nearer  to  the  city  is  the  little  fort  called 
Castle  Pinckney.  The  two  rivers,  the  inner  harbor,  and. 
the  narrow  straits  that  separate  the  islands  from  the  main- 
land and  from  each  other,  are  admirably  adapted  to  boat- 
ing and  fishing;  and  all  the  coast  region  formerly  abounded 
in  game,  attracting  the  vigorous  huntsman,  with  his  gun 
and  dogs.  Tlie  city  is  very  healthy,  for  those  who  are  ac- 
climated, as  the  heat  in  summer  is  delightfully  tempered 
b}^  the  sea-breeze.  The  average  mortality  is  far  less  — 
as  also  in  most  of  the  cities  on  our  southern  coast  —  than 
in  the  great  cities  of  the  North.     Occasional  outbursts  of 

afterwards  received  the  two  names  of  Sir  Ashley  Cooper.      Gilmore 
Simms  has  a  novel  called  "  The  Cacique  of  Kiawah." 

1  See  "The  Defence  of  Charleston  Harbor  (1863-1865),"  by  Eev. 
John  Johnson,  who  was  Confederate  Major  of  Engineers  in  charo;e  of 
Fort  Sumter,  and  has  given  us  an  admirable  book.  Charleston: 
"Walker,  Evans,  &  Cogswell  Co. 


12  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

yellow  fever,  brought  from  the  West  Indies,  impress  the 
imagiuation  of  people  at  a  distance  like  some  great  rail- 
way or  steamboat  accident,  while  yet  travel  by  steamer  or 
rail  is  on  the  average  far  safer  than  b}^  private  convey- 
ance. The  diseases  produced  by  extreme  cold  in  northern 
regions  are  much  more  destructive  to  life  than  those  pro- 
duced by  extreme  heat,  —  a  fact  which  reminds  us  that 
all  the  earliest  seats  of  civilization  were  in  hot  countries. 
The  wealthier  people  of  Charleston  and  all  the  adjacent 
coast  region  could  in  summer  cross  at  pleasure  to  Sullivan's 
Island  and  other  cool  spots  on  the  bay,  or  could  journey 
in  their  private  carriages  to  Ccesar's  Head,  Flat  Rock,  or 
Asheville,  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  or  far  away 
to  the  White  Sulphur  and  other  springs  in  the  Virginia 
mountains,  where  South  Carolinians  used  to  be  very  nu- 
merous, or  could  go  by  sea  to  Saratoga  and  Newport,  or 
across  to  Europe.  Thus  they  possessed  a  rare  combination 
of  advantages  for  health  and  everj'-  higher  gratification. 
The  planters  who  produced  ''sea-island"  cotton,  the  long 
staple  of  which  was  so  much  better  adapted  than  ''up- 
lands "  to  the  manufacture  of  all  the  finer  fabrics,  and 
thus  commanded  a  greatly  higher  price,  were  better  off 
than  the  owners  of  a  gold-mine.  Besides  the  summer 
journeys  above  mentioned,  many  of  them  would  spend  part 
of  the  winter  in  spacious  and  hospitable  establishments 
which  they  maintained  in  Charleston,  or  in  Columbia,  the 
capital  of  the  State,  where  they  formed  a  ruling  element 
in  legislation  and  government.  Every  low-country  parish 
had  its  separate  senator,  and  the  districts  a  much  larger 
proportionate  representation  in  the  lower  house  than  had 
been  assigned  by  the  old  and  still  unchanged  legislation 
to  the  up-country  districts.  In  a  word,  the  wealthy 
planters  around  and  the  Avealthy  citizens  of  Charleston 
constituted  an  aristocracy,  with  all  the  good  and  ill  attach- 
ing to  such  a  social  condition.  It  is  the  fashion  now  in 
our  country  and  in  most  countries  to  have  only  words  of 


THE   CITY  OF  CHARLESTON.  13 

scorn  for  aristocratic  institutions;  yet,  as  often  seen  in 
America  as  well  as  in  England,  they  certainly  afford  very 
great  opportunity  for  developing  and  exalting  individual 
character,  and  furnishing  noble  leaders  of  mankind.  Many 
of  these  Charleston  and  low-country  homes  gathered  large 
and  carefully  chosen  libraries,  with  a  growing  preference 
for  English  editions,  and  often  bound  in  English  tree-calf. 
These  books  were  read,  and  high  discussion  of  history  and 
literature,  as  well  as  philosophy  and  polities,  prevailed  in 
domestic  and  social  gatherings,  besides  clubs  and  societies 
formed  for  the  purpose,  and  conducted  with  great  spirit. 
Charleston  was  long  the  chief  seat  of  culture  at  the  South, 
as  Boston  was  at  the  Xorth.  Dr.  J.  B.  Jeter,  a  celebrated 
Baptist  minister  of  Virginia,  from  whom  a  thousand  say- 
ings are  repeated,  once  visited  Charleston,  having  pre- 
viously spent  some  time  in  Boston.  One  day  he  asked  a 
friend  in  Charleston,  ''  What  do  you  think  is  the  difference 
in  the  look  of  a  Boston  man  and  a  Charleston  man?'' 
The  friend  referred  the  question  back  to  him,  and  he  said : 
"  A  Boston  man  looks  as  if  he  thought,  *  I  know  everything;* 
and  a  Charleston  man,  '  I  know  everything  that  it's  worth 
while  for  a  gentleman  to  know.'  "  It  was  a  palpable  hit, 
and  might  repay  a  good  deal  of  reflection. 

The  population  of  Charleston  in  1830,  when  James  P. 
Bo3'ce  was  a  child,  was  30,289,  of  whom  12,828  were 
whites.  In  1810  the  whites  were  13,030,  and  the  blacks 
had  fallen  off  a  little,  being  probably  more  in  demand  on 
the  plantations,  so  that  the  total  was  29,261.  After  this 
the  white  population  gained  more  rapidly.  In  1860  the 
total  was  40,519,  of  whom  23,373  were  white.  In  1870  it 
was  48,956,  of  whom  the  whites  were  26,207;  but  it  is  un- 
derstood that  the  blacks  in  that  census  were  often  quite 
incompletely  enumerated.  In  1890  the  total  was  54,955, 
of  whom  23,919  were  whites;  and  the  blacks  were  again 
largely  in  the  majority. 


14  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CHILDHOOD   AND    YOUTH. 

THE  oldest  child  of  Ker  Boyce's  second  marriage,  born 
Jan.  11,  1827,  was  named  after  James  L.  Petigru, 
a  higlily  distinguished  lawyer  of  Charleston,  a  man 
of  brilliant  wit  and  other  attractive  qualities,  and  Mr. 
Boyce's  cherished  friend.  He  was  of  mixed  Scotch-Irish 
and  Huguenot  ancestry,  and  born  and  reared  in  Abbeville 
District,  adjoining  Newberry.  Mr.  Boyce  and  he  were  of 
nearly  the  same  age,  and  removed  about  the  same  time  to 
Charleston.  Ere  many  years  Mr.  Petigru  had  no  rival  at 
the  Bar.  In  1822-30  he  was  attorney-general  of  the  State, 
and  exceedingly  popular.  This  popularity  was  greatly 
diminished  by  his  opposition  to  the  Nullification  move- 
ment of  1830-32,  which  doubtless  prevented  his  rising  into 
the  highest  political  distinction.  In  later  years  he  was 
also  steadfastly  opposed  to  the  Secession  movement ;  but  (as 
we  shall  see)  was  so  highly  esteemed  for  personal  char- 
acter, and  legal  abilities  and  attainments,  that  a  Legis- 
lature bitterly  hostile  to  his  opinions  treated  him  with 
marked  consideration.  Mr.  Petigru's  wife  was  quite  a  mu- 
sician, and  one  of  their  daughters  was  an  artist;  but  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  himself  much  acquainted  with 
music,  whatever  other  artistic  gifts  he  may  have  possessed. 
The  story  is  told  that  once  when  Ole  Bull  came  to  Charles- 
ton, at  the  height^of  his  reputation,  and,  appearing  on  the 
platform,  began  to  tune  the  violin  a  little,  Mr.  Petigru 
turned  to  his  wife  and  said,  ''My  dear,  isn'  t  that  superb !  '^ 
''Hush,  Mr.  Petigru!  "  she  replied,  "he  is  only  tuning  the 
instrument;  you '11  disgrace  yourself."     The  great  lawyer 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH.  15 

subsided  in  humiliation,  and  a  good  while  afterwards, 
when  Bull  was  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  noblest  passages, 
Mr.  Petigru  timidly  touched  his  wife's  elbow  and  said, 
^'My  dear,  will  the  man  never  get  done  tuning  his 
violin?"  Mr.  Petigru  long  outlived  his  early  friend, 
surviving  until  1863,  when  his  namesake  had  become  a 
man  widely  known  and  honored.-^ 

The  earliest  glimpse  we  get  of  Jimmy  Boyce,  as  he  was 
familiarly  called,  is  in  connection  with  public  worship. 
In  the  old  First  Baptist  Church  of  Charleston,  not  many 
squares  from  the  Battery,  the  beloved  Thomas  P.  Smith, 
long  a  cotton  factor  in  the  city,  recently  pointed  out  to  the 
writer  the  Boyce  pew.  It  is  a  long  pew,  rather  near  the 
pulpit,  extending  from  the  centre  aisle  to  the  side  aisle, 
and  having  only  space  enough  for  one  seat  between  the 
side  aisle  and  a  large  wooden  column.  In  this  space  the 
rotund  boy,  with  his  fine  head,  could  be  seen  regularly 
every  Sunday,  absorbed  in  a  book  until  the  service  began; 
and  people  called  him  ''the  little  guardsman,^'  always  at 
his  post.  In  this  slight  incident  are  already  revealed 
several  distinctive  characteristics,  —  punctuality  and  self- 
reliance,   love  of  reading,    interest  in  public  worship. 

The  pastor  at  that  time,  as  already  indicated,  was  Basil 
Mahly  the  elder,  who  became  one  of  the  most  eminent 
Baptist  ministers  in  the  whole  country.  He  was  born  in 
Chatham  County,  North  Carolina,  1798 ;  his  elder  brother, 
Charles,  became  governor  of  that  State,  and  his  younger 
brother,  Matthias  E.,  became  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  Basil  graduated  at  the  College  of 
South  Carolina  in  1821,  with  the  first  honor,  his  fellow- 
students  including  many  gifted  men.  After  preaching 
some  years  at  Edgefield  Courthouse,  he  removed  to  Charles- 
ton in  March,  1826,  and  remained  till '1837.  Then  for 
nearly  twenty  years  he  was  president  of  the  State  Uni- 

1  See  a  Biographical  Sketch  of  J.  L.  Petigru,  by  W.  J,  Grayson. 
New  York  :   Harpers,  1866. 


16  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

versity  of  Alabama,  showing  extraordinary  talent  for 
administration  as  well  as  instruction.  But  he  always 
loved  the  pastorate  best,  and  returned  to  Charleston  in 
1855.  He  spent  his  last  years  of  failing  health  with  his 
son  and  namesake  at  Greenville,  S.  C,  where  he  died  in 
1868.  It  was  among  the  marked  advantages  of  James  P. 
Boyce's  childhood  to  attend  on  Dr.  Manly's  ministry,  and 
be  brought  in  contact  with  such  a  pastor.  His  preaching 
was  always  marked  by  deep  thought  and  strong  argument, 
expressed  in  a  very  clear  style,  and  by  an  extraordinary 
earnestness  and  tender  pathos,  curiously  combined  with 
positiveness  of  opinion  and  a  masterful  nature.  People 
were  borne  down  by  his  passion,  convinced  by  his  argu- 
ments, melted  by  his  tenderness,  swayed  by  his  force  of 
will.  James  Boyce  was  only  ten  years  old  w^hen  this  hon- 
ored pastor  moved  away;  but  we  might  be  sure  he  received 
from  him  in  public  and  in  private  many  a  wholesome  and 
lasting  impression. 

Nor  are  we  left  to  conjecture  as  to  this  matter.  Witness 
the  following  extract  from  Dr.  Boyce's  Funeral  Discourse 
upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Manly  in  1868:  ''  Indeed,  I  do  not 
know  how  a  people  could  be  more  attached  to  a  pastor  than 
they  were  to  Mr.  Manly.  He  made  himself  accessible  to 
all,  manifested  deep  interest  in  their  welfare,  readily  'ad- 
vised them  according  to  his  best  judgment,  and  above  all 
showed  a  cordial  sympathy  with  their  joys  and  sorrows. 
Especially  was  this  true  in  spiritual  matters.  No  one 
ever  understood  better  how  to  console  a  suffering  soul,  or 
dealt  with  it  more  tenderly.  And  his  people  loved  him 
with  a  depth  of  devotion  seldom  equalled.  Nor  was  this 
confined  to  the  members  of  the  church.  The  presence  of 
no  one  conferred  more  pleasure  upon  any  family.  The 
little  children  felt  him  to  be  their  own,  and  spoke  of  him 
as  such.  And  he  loved  them,  and  never  forgot  the  word 
of  kind  exhortation,  or  admonition,  or  sympathy,  suited  to 
their  case.     The  elders  found  in  his  genial  intercourse  a 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH.  17 

true  copy  of  that  of  liis  Master,  who  mingled  with  men 
everywhere,  entering  into  the  ordinary  social  festivities  of 
life,  yet  ever  ready  to  utter  the  warning  words  of  wisdom 
or  counsel.  It  was  his  peculiar  forte  to  say  a  word  in 
season,  and  from  his  lips  things  unseasonable  from  others 
would  be  acceptable,  because  of  the  way  in  which  he  spoke 
them.  .  .  .  After  a  lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years  I  can 
yet  feel  the  weight  of  his  hand,  resting  in  gentleness  and 
love  upon  my  head.  I  can  recall  the  words  of  fatherly 
tenderness,  with  wdiich  he  sought  to  guide  my  childish 
steps.  I  can  see  his  beloved  form  in  the  study,  in  the 
house  in  King  Street.  I  can  again  behold  him  in  our  own 
family  circle.  I  can  remember  the  very  spot  in  the  house, 
where  the  bands  which  he  was  accustomed  to  wear  with  his 
gown  were  laid  on  a  certain  Thanksgiving  Day  on  which 
he  dined  with  us.  I  can  call  to  mind  his  conversations 
with  my  mother,  to  whose  salvation  had  been  blessed  a  ser- 
mon preached  on  the'  Sunday  after  the  death  of  one  of  his 
children  upon  the  text,  ^  If  I  be  bereaved  of  my  children, 
I  am  bereaved.'  And  once  more  come  to  me  the  words  of 
sympathy  which  he  spake  while  he  wept  with  her  family 
over  her  dead  body,  and  ministered  to  them  as  it  was  laid 
in  the  grave." 

James's  boyhood  and  early  youth  were  not  fruitful  of 
events.  He  entered,  we  are  told  by  a  comrade,  into  few  of 
the  games  that  prevailed  among  boj^s.  He  did  not  "  shoot 
marbles,"  ^'play  shinnj^,"  or  engage  in  games  of  ball  or 
"prisoner's  base."  ^  As  a  bigger  boy,  he  was  not  given 
to  running,  swimming,  rowing,  sailing,  horseback-riding, 
or  gunning.  He  was  even  averse  to  most  of  these  sports, 
and  through  life  never  felt  at  ease  on  horseback.  The  ex- 
planation of  all  this  is  not  found  in  any  lack  of  sportive 

1  Another  schoolmate  writes  to  the  same  general  effect,  but  says  that 
he  joined  with  great  zest  in  such  games  as  ball  and  shinny.  In  this 
conflict  of  authorities  the  Muse  of  History  can  only  leave  the  question 
undecided. 


18  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

disposition,  for  he  was  the  very  quintessence  of  fun  and 
jollity,  but  chiefly  in  the  fact  of  his  unusual  size,  which 
did  not  qualify  him  for  sports  requiring  much  activity 
or  involving  risk,  and  to  which  he  sometimes  referred  in 
later  years  as  having  materially  conditioned  his  early  life. 
For  the  same  reason,  he  never  indulged  in  boxing,  fencing, 
or  fighting,  —  a  not  uncommon  amusement  of  Charleston 
boys  in  his  school-days.  But  this  negative  view  of  his 
youthful  likes  and  dislikes  makes  only  more  prominent  his 
fondness  for  archery.  He  organized  a  company  of  archers 
on  the  spacious  grounds  about  h4s  home  in  George  Street, 
and  was  quite  enthusiastic  in  the  sport.  Some  of  his 
friends  find  significance  in  this  early  desire  for  a  definite 
object  to  aim  at  and  hit.  And  his  occasional  liking  for 
the  more  complicated  aims  and  movements  of  the  billiard 
table,  with  the  great  delight  in  chess  which  he  developed 
at  a  later  period,  could  hardly  fail  to  suggest  the  skill  and 
mastery  of  his  combinations  in  after  life.  A  friend  of 
about  the  same  age  who  knew  him  well  adds  the  testimony 
that  he  Avas  scrupulously  temperate,  and  that  the  most 
searching  scrutiny  of  memory  does  not  recall  a  single 
act  which  stained  his  youth  or  young  manhood  with  the 
slightest  dishonor. 

From  early  childhood,  James  was  an  excessive  reader. 
While  his  companions  were  in  the  ''city  square,''  or  on 
the  ''citadel  green,"  engaged  in  their  physical  sports, 
he  would  be  lying  flat  on  the  "  joggling-board,"  in  his 
father's  piazza,  absorbed  in  some  story-book,  novel,  or  his- 
tory. He  would  often  drive  down  town  with  his  father, 
on  the  way  to  the  bank  of  which  Ker  Boyce  had  become 
president,  and  return  with  a  pile  of  books  on  the  front 
seat  of  the  carriage,  brought  from  the  Charleston  Library 
and  other  places ;  and  these  books  he  would  devour  in  an 
incredibly  short  time.  His  voraciousness  only  increased 
by  gratification ;  and  the  number  and  variety  of  books  that 
he  read,  all  through  life,  was  a  marvel  to  his  family  and 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH.  19 

intimate  friends.  Besides  his  archery  club,  he  organized 
at  home  a  debating  society.  The  "hall"  was  the  room 
over  his  fatlier's  carriage-house.  He  was  a  leader  then,  as 
he  became  afterwards  in  the  college  societies  and  in  denom- 
inational gatherings.  Some  of  the  lads  who  stood  with 
him  in  that  '^ upper  room"  have  ranked,  or  rank  now, 
among  the  foremost  men  of  the  Southern  country.  It  is 
evident  that  the  wide  reading,  which  was  thought  exces- 
sive by  his  home  folks  and  teachers,  would  serve  him  a 
good  part  on  the  floor  of  the  debating  society. 

When  James  was  ten  years  old,  his  mother  died,  leav- 
ing four  children  younger  than  himself,  of  w^hom  she 
charged  him  to  take  care;  and  this  he  often  recalled  in 
after  life  when  thanked  for  any  kindness.  Her  life  and 
character  made  a  great  impression  on  Mary  also,  the 
daughter  of  the  first  marriage,  then  fourteen  years  old; 
and  she  and  James  would  try  very  earnestly  in  the  jeavs 
that  followed  to  carry  out  all  her  rules  in  the  home  life. 
The  oldest  now  surviving  daughter  can  remember  but  little 
of  their  mother,  except  that'  she  was  very  particular  about 
truthfulness,  as  James  also  was  through  life.  It  is  related 
that  she  once  gave  the  lad  a  hard  Irsson  in  this  respect. 
He  remarked  one  Saturday  morning  that  he  would  spend 
all  his  Saturday  money  on  candy,  and  eat  it  all  himself. 
When  he  returned,  and,  with  his  usual  hearty  generosity, 
wanted  to  distribute  his  candy,  he  was  required  to  eat  it  all 
himself,  because  he  had  said  he  would.  He  took  one  of  the 
little  girls  aside,  and  begged  that  she  would  ask  mother 
to  let  him  give  her  some;  but  no.  Such  was  Mrs.  Boyce's 
extreme  solicitude  as  to  truth ;  for  there  was  no  thought  of 
James's  being  stingy.  At  that  time  and  through  life  he 
was  not  only  generous,  but  very  considerate  towards  others, 
and  seemed  to  have  as  much  delicate  tact  and  intuitive  per- 
ception of  the  situation  as  women  have.  He  was  also  very 
grateful  for  any  present  or  any  slightest  attention,  —  a 
rose,  a  book,  or  anything;  and  would  tell  his  little  sister 


20  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

how  kind  somebody  had  been.  The  younger  children  were 
very  fond  of  James,  and  felt  that  they  could  depend  on 
him.  He  seemed  to  be  an  '^all-round"  person,  ready  for 
everything.  It  is  said  that  the  four  boys  and  four  girls  of 
the  household  gradually  fell  into  couples ;  James  and  Re- 
becca being  special  cronies,  John  and  Mary,  Samuel  and 
Xanny,  Kerr  and  Lizzie.  Yet  James  showed  no  unplea- 
sant favoritism  in  any  way,  and  was  always  sympathetic, 
not  only  towards  the  other  children,  but  to  everybody.  A 
friend  states  that  the  family  housekeeper  of  those  days, 
who  cared  for  the  children,  was  in  after  years  uniformly 
visited  by  Dr.  Boyce  when  in  Charleston,  and  we  learn 
from  his  business  agent  in  Charleston  that  he  regularly 
supplied  her  wants  as  long  as  she  lived,  and  provided  for 
her  funeral. 

At  home,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  James  was  fond  of  fun, 
delighting  in  all  manner  of  jokes,  and  never  at  all  vexed 
when  made  the  butt  of  a  joke  himself.  This  sportive  turn 
of  mind  was  clearly  inherited  from  his  father,  who  over- 
flowed with  amusing  stories  of  his  own  youth.  James 
liked  when  a  lad  to  go  out  at  Christmas  to  the  plantation 
homes  of  his  father's  friends,  where  they  often  dispensed 
a  magnificent  and  delightful  hospitality;  and  when  some- 
what older,  he  was  quite  fond  of  being  with  girls.  His 
father  required  the  boys  to  be  scrupulously  polite  and 
attentive  to  their  sisters,  and  himself  always  treated  his 
daughters  with  marked  courtesy  and  consideration.  If  one 
of  them  was  out  at  evening,  she  must  not  come  home  in 
the  carriage  alone,  but  one  of  her  brothers  must  go  after 
her.  Through  life  their  father  would  give  a  son  almost 
anything  that  one  of  his  sisters  asked. ^  The  beginning 
of  James's  library  was  made  with  a  gift  of  five  hundred 

1  In  like  manner  Patrick  Henry,  as  we  learn  through  his  brother-in- 
law,  was  always  the  advocate  of  his  sisters  **when  any  favor  or  indul- 
gence was  to  be  procured  from  their  mother"  {\Yirt  Henry's  Life  of 
Patrick  Henry,  vol.  i,  p.  9). 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH.  21 

dollars,  handed  him  in  New  York  after  he  graduated  at 
college,  at  the  special  request  of  Nanny,  as  a  gift  to  her. 
James  was  remarkable  for  being  easy  to  please  as  to  bodily 
comfort,  and  this  continued  through  life,  in  all  his  wide 
travelling;  he  would  be  sometimes  quite  solicitous  about 
a  companion's  comfort,  and  not  seem  to  think  of  himself. 
It  is  also  remembered  that  he  appeared  to  his  sisters  a 
brave  boy,  while  gentle  and  tender,  and  that  lie  was  sin- 
gularly kind  to  animals.  Those  who  knew  him  in  later 
life  would  see  in  all  this  how  ''the  child  is  father  of  the 
man.'' 

Mrs.  General  Dickinson,  of  Florida,  nee  Mary  Elizabeth 
Ling,  on  a  visit  to  Louisville  in  1890  told  that  when  a 
little  girl  at  the  dancing-school  in  Charleston  she  was  al- 
ways glad  whenever  Madame  Feugas  told  her  to  waltz  with 
Jimmy  Boyce,  because  he  was  so  springy  and  strong,  and 
they  went  whirling.  This  exercise  served  to  make  some 
amends  for  the  lad's  disinclination  to  schoolboy  sports. 
We  know  that  his  "barrel-shaped"  figure — as  several 
have  described  it  —  finally  developed  into  a  very  symmet- 
rical specimen  of  "  episcopal  dimensions,"  and  his  move- 
ments were  always  remarkably  light  and  graceful. 

In  his  earlier  school-days  James  was  hardly  a  student, 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term,  but  seemed  to 
neglect  his  text-books  through  devotion  to  general  reading. 
Dr.  W.  T.  Brantly,  Sr.,  who  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  from  1837-1844,  called  Mr.  Boyce's  attention  to 
tliis  defect  in  the  lad.  He  was  not  then  old  enough  to  enter 
Charleston  College,  though  he  had  been  over  the  requisite 
studies.  The  father,  who  had  a  remarkable  knowledge  of 
men,  as  shown  throughout  his  business  career,  had  tried  a 
successful  experiment  on  an  older  son,  which  he  now  re- 
peated. Samuel,  who  was  seven  years  older  than  James, 
had  said  much  about  a  desire  to  go  to  sea.  His  father 
finally  secured  him  a  cabin  passage  from  New  York  around 
Cape  Horn ;  and  after  an  absence  of  two  years,  he  never 


22  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

spoke  again  of  going  to  sea.  In  like  manner,  James  was 
taken  from  school  and  put  in  the  wholesale  drygoods  store 
of  Wiley,  Banks,  &  Co.,  in  which  his  father  was  a  partner. 
This  new  life  would  give  excellent  training  of  a  certain 
kind  until  he  grew  old  enough  for  college.  James  him- 
self once  told  the  writer  in  later  years  how  his  father  gave 
express  directions,  both  to  him  and  to  the  men  in  the 
store,  that  he  was  to  perform  his  full  share  of  all  the 
roughest  and  hardest  work  done  by  other  boys  of  the  same 
age.  He  must  rise  at  six  in  the  morning,  go  down  and 
help  to  sweep  out  the  establishment,  and  at  any  time  be 
ready  to  help  bring  out  the  heaviest  boxes,  and  in  general 
must  stand  bacli  for  nothing.  All  this  exactly  suited  his 
energetic  temperament.^  Many  a  rich  man's  son  might 
feel  in  after  life,  as  was  felt  in  this  case,  that  such  a 
boyish  discipline  had  been  very  helpful.  However,  six 
months  of  it  sufficed  for  the  lad's  wishes,  and  he  was  quite 
willing  to  return  to  school.  He  had  always  stood  fairly- 
well  in  his  classes,  as  a  classmate  testifies.  The  fact  is, 
he  acquired  the  appointed  lessons  with  wonderful  rapidity; 
and  then  threw  aside  his  school-books  to  revel  in  his 
favorite  authors,  —  never,  however,  of  evil  or  doubtful 
character,  the  books  he  read  being  always  open  to  the  in- 
spection of  the  family.  But  returning  now  to  school,  he 
turned  over  a  new  leaf  as  to  the  lessons,  and  applied  him- 
self with  such  diligence  as  to  have  an  excellent  standing 
in  his  classes,  both  at  the  well-known  private  school  of 
Professor  Bailey,  at  the  High  School,  and  at  the  Charleston 
College. 

Yet,  while  the  lessons  now  received  regular  attention, 
the  wide  reading  continued.     Apart  from  the  books  com- 

1  The  early  farailiarity  with  elegant  dress-goods  also  helped  to 
develop  his  remarkable  talent  and  taste  in  that  respect.  In  after 
years  his  wife  and  sisters  and  daughters  not  only  sought  his  advice  in 
such  matters,  but  would  often  commission  him,  when  visiting 
Charleston  or  New  York,  to  make  the  most  important  selections. 


CHILDHOOD   AND   YOUTH.  23 

mon  to  all  well-furnished  boys  of  that  period,  — those 
great  classics  of  literature  for  the  young  which  are  at  the 
present  day  in  danger  of  being  neglected  for  the  immense 
multitude  of  current  and  transient  books,  —  and  besides 
the  novels  of  Cooper  and  Marryatt,  we  can  see  that  the 
eager  young  reader  would  find  much  to  attract  him  in  the 
early  history  of  Charleston  and  of  South  Carolina.  He 
would  often  notice  a  fine  statue  of  William  Pitt  (Earl  of 
Chatham),  ''  erected  by  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly 
of  South  Carolina,"  in  gratitude  for  his  procuring  a  re- 
peal of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1766.  It  was  placed  in  1769  at 
the  intersection  of  Broad  and  Meeting  Streets.  The  right 
arm  was  destroyed  by  a  cannon-ball  from  the  English  bat- 
teries on  James  Island  during  the  siege  of  Charleston  in 
1780.  After  1808  it  stood  in  front  of  the  Orphan  House 
until  a  recent  time.  This  fine  statue  would  kindle  the 
lad's  curiosity  about  the  causes  of  the  great  American 
Revolution.  William  Gilmore  Simms  published  in  1840, 
when  James  Boyce  was  thirteen  years  old,  a  '^  History  of 
South  Carolina,  from  its  first  European  Discovery  to  its 
Erection  into  a  Eepublic,"  designed  avowedly  for  the 
young,  and  suggested  b}^  the  wants  of  his  own  daughters. 
Written  in  the  author's  flowing  and  agreeable  style,  and 
detailing  the  early  settlement  of  South  Carolina,  the  three 
attacks  of  the  British  upon  Charleston,  including  the 
famous  story  of  the  Palmetto  fort  and  Sergeant  Jasper,  and 
the  stirring  adventures  of  Marion  and  Sumter,  we  may  be 
sure  that  this  book  was  eagerly  seized  upon  by  a  lad  so 
fond  of  reading.  Mr.  Simms  was  a  native  of  Charleston, 
and  spent  his  life  there  (1806  to  1870),  though  usually 
giving  half  the  year  to  his  country  home  in  Barnwell  Dis- 
trict. Before  the  appearance  of  this  history  he  had  pub- 
lished numerous  volumes  of  poems  and  romances,  including 
the  "  Yemassee,"  which  is  considered  his  best  novel,  and  the 
"Partisan,"  which  is  a  romance  with  Marion  as  the  chief 
hero  J  many  others  appeared  while  James  Boyce  was  still 


24  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

growing  up  in  Charleston.  Mr.  Simms,  like  some  other 
famous  novelists,  wrote  too  rapidly  and  hurriedly,  and  thus 
fell  short  of  doing  justice  to  his  noble  powers.  Yet  Edgar 
A.  Poe  pronounced  him  ^'the  best  novelist  America  had 
^produced,  after  Cooper/'  and  his  books  of  every  kind  were 
exactly  suited  to  delight  an  enthusiastic  Charleston  youth. 
It  is  worth  while  to  notice  that  his  History  of  South  Caro- 
lina ended  with  the  close  of  the  Revolution;  and  the  phrase 
in  the  title,  "to  its  Erection  into  a  E-epublic,"  is  an  amus- 
ing indication  of  the  type  of  political  opinion  which  was 
so  popular  in  the  State. ^  Besides  the  works  of  Simms  and 
others,  ''Horse-shoe  Robinson  "  was  at  that  time  a  favorite 
Southern  romance.  James  was  too  young  to  be  much  in- 
terested in  the  brilliant  and  powerful  '' Southern  Review," 
published  in  Charleston  from  1832  to  1840,  and  edited  by 
the  famous  Hugh  S.  Legare  and  others;  but  he  read  the 
volumes  as  he  grew  older,  and  was  not  a  little  stirred  by 
the  presence  in  the  city  of  several  gifted  and  eminent  men 
■  who  had  contributed  to  it  essays  seldom  equalled  in  even 
the  great  English  Quarterlies. 

Professor  William  E.  Bailey,  w^ho  was  young  Boj'ce's 
first  teacher  after  he  returned  to  school,  was  a  man  of 
classic  tastes  and  aspirations,  and  evidently  became  much 
attached  to  this  now  diligent  pupil;  for  when  James  P. 
Boyce  opened  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Greenville  in 
1859,  it  received  Professor  Bailey's  library,  specially  be- 
queathed by  him  for  that  purpose,  and  comprising,  among 
the  thirteen  hundred  volumes,  many  of  the  most  elaborate 
and  costly  editions  of  the  great  classic  authors,  as  well  as 
the  histories  of  Prescott  and  Motley  and  many  others,  and 
a  complete  edition  of  Gilmore  Simms's  novels,  which  have 
doubtless  many  a  time  relieved  the  ever-arduous  labors  of 
theological  students. 

1  After  this  was  written  appeared  the  Life  of  William  Gilmore 
Simms,  by  W.  P.  Trent  (Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.).  It  is  an  interest- 
ing book,  but  tlie  author  seems  curiously  incapable  of  understanding 
the  Carolina  people  of  that  day. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH.  25 

The  Charleston  High  School  had  been  organized  in  1839. 
The  venerable  Dr.  Henry  M.  Bruns,  who  still  resides  in 
Charleston,  at  a  great  age,  was  princijial  at  the  time  wlien 
James  Boyce  was  for  six  months  a  student  there.  Among 
the  teachers  was  Andrew  Flynn  Dickson,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  a  remarkably  gifted  man,  specially  zealous 
about  distinguisliing  between  words,  and  always  using 
exactly  the  right  term.  It  is  quite  likely  that  in  this 
respect  he  made  a  definite  impression  on  his  pupiJ,  who 
w^as  through  life  solicitous  to  get  the  right  word,  and  was 
thereby  frequently  retarded  in  extemporaneous  utterance. 
Dr.  Bruns  recently  told  the  writer  that  young  Boyce  was 
fonder  of  mathematics  than  of  classics,  and  received  at  the 
Commencement  a  silver  medal  for  solving  an  original 
problem  in  algebra.  He  was  a  good,  sensible  lad,  con- 
scientious in  preparing  his  lessons,  jolly,  and  quite  pop- 
ular with  the  students.  The  Commencement  mentioned 
was  held  at  the  Lutheran  church,  the  pastor  of  which  was 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Bachman,  whose  works  on  natural 
history  (some  of  them  in  association  with  Audubon,  with 
whom  he  was  also  closely  connected  by  marriage)  did  not 
begin  to  appear  until  1850.  Bachman  was  already  a  great 
promoter  of  education.  Coming  originally  from  New 
York  State,  he  continued  pastor  of  this  church  from  1815 
until  his  death  in  1874.  He  was  a  friend  of  Ker  Boyce, 
and  was  always  regarded  by  his  son  with  great  pride  as  an 
honor  to  Charleston.  Other  medals  were  taken  at  this 
Commencement  by  Bazile  E.  Lanneau,  afterwards  a  Pres- 
byterian minister  and  theological  professor  (and  brother 
of  Rev.  Charles  H.  Lanneau),  whose  kinsman  and  namesake 
is  Basil  Lanneau  Gildersleeve,  the  famous  Professor  of 
Greek  in  the  University  of  Virginia  and  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  himself  a  native  of  Charleston;  by  Charles  H. 
Simonton,  now  United  States  Judge  for  the  District  of 
Sou^i  Carolina,  and  one  or  two  other  men  who  became  well 
known.    The  venerable  principal  remembers  that  the  poet, 


26  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

Henry  Timrod,  was  also  his  pupil  at  the  High  School,  and 
that  lie  recited  at  Commencement  a  passage  from  Moore 
with  beautiful  effect.     Timrod  was  a  native  of  Charleston, 
two  years  younger  than  James  Boyce,  and  is  said  by  Mr. 
W.  Gr.  Whilden   to  have   been  one  of   Boyce 's    intimate 
friends.     He  afterwards  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Mr. 
Petigru,   as  Boyce  would   no  doubt  have    done   had   his 
father's   cherished  wish  been  carried  through.     Paul   H. 
Hayne,   another  distinguished   Carolina  poet,  was   also  a 
Charlestonian,  three  years  younger  than  James  Boyce,  and 
resided  there  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life.     After 
Boyce  had  spent  some  time  at  Charleston  College,  and  de- 
signed to  enter  Brown  University,  Dr.  Bruns  gave  him 
some  special  lessons  by  way   of  preparation.     It  is  said 
that  at  the  memorial  services  held  in  the  Old  First  Church 
after  Dr.  Boyce's  death,   this  aged  teacher  was  present, 
and  showed  deep  emotion.     A  life-long  instructor  can  have 
no  truer,  deeper  joy  than  in  survejang  the  noble  character 
and  useful   career  of  those  whom  he  helped  to  mould   in 
their  youth.     Mr.  Whilden  states  that  while  at  the  High 
School  James   was  frequently   a  peacemaker   among  the 
boys,   because  of  the  confidence  felt  in   his  justice  and 
equity;    also  that  his  amiability  and  courtesy  won  him 
friends  among  all  classes,  rich  and  poor;   and  though  all 
knew  that  his  father  possessed  large  means,  it  was  no  bar- 
rier to  general  sociability.     This  was  the  more  remarkable 
in  the  case  of  one  who  already  had  very  decided  views,  and 
a  very  earnest  way  of  expressing  them. 

In  the  Sunday-school  he  was  at  one  time  taught  by 
Charles  H.  Lanneau,  Sr.,  a  man  of  excellent  talents  and 
noble  character,  other  members  of  the  class  being  J.  L. 
Iveynolds,  Basil  Manlj^,  Jr.,  William  Royall,  William  J. 
Hard,  andT.W.  Mellichamp,  all  of  whom  became  ministers. 
When  twelve  years  old  his  Sunday-school  teacher  at  the 
First  Church  was  Henry  Holcombe  Tucker,  who  became 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  Baptist  preachers  and  edu- 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH.  27 

cators  in  the  Southern  country.  He  was  a  native  of 
Georgia,  but  spent  most  of  his  early  life  in  Philadelphia, 
where  his  grandfather,  Dr.  Henry  Holcombe,  was  pastor; 
he  graduated  in  1838,  at  the  Columbian  College,  in  Wash- 
ington city  (now  Columbian  University) ;  and  the  next 
year,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  was  residing  in  Charleston,  as 
''clerk '^  in  a  bookstore  kept  by  his  uncle,  Mr.  John 
Hoff,  in  Broad  Street.  It  was  a  great  privilege  for  young 
Boyce  to  be  brought  even  for  a  short  time  under  the 
influence  of  that  singularly  acute  and  powerful  mind,  that 
enthusiastic  and  inspiring  instructor.  We  shall  have 
occasion  towards  the  close  of  this  Memoir  to  quote  from 
Dr.  Tucker's  striking  address  at  the  memorial  services 
held  before  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  after  Dr. 
Boyce's  death. 

At  a  somewhat  later  time  Dr.  Brantly  formed  a  Sunday- 
school  class  in  the  Greek  Testament;  and  being  greatly 
burdened  with  duties  as  pastor,  and  professor  in  Charleston 
College,  he  afterwards  turned  over  the  class  to  B.  C.  Press- 
ley,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  church.  Judge  Pressley  re- 
members as  belonging  to  the  class,  James  P.  Boj^ce,  H. 
Allen  Tupper,  James  K.  Mendenhall,  and  K..  Furman 
Whilden,  who  all  became  ministers.  He  says  that  3^oung 
Boyce  seemed  anxious  to  get  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
Greek,  and  that  he  thought  him  likely  to  become  a  strong 
and  clear  thinker.  When  some  fifteen  years  old,  James  was 
enamoured  of  a  girl  belonging  to  one  of  the  Presbj^terian 
churches.  He  went  one  Sunday  morning  to  that  church, 
and  so  placed  himself  in  the  gallery  as  to  command  a  full 
view  of  her  family  pew.  There  came  a  stranger  into  the 
pulpit,  and  preached,  more  than  an  hour,  a  sermon  abound- 
ing in  deep  thought  and  strong  argument.  When  it  was 
over,  the  lad  felt  positively  ashamed  of  himself,  for  he  had 
been  so  busy  listening  as  hardly  to  look  at  his  girl.  The 
preacher  turned  out  to  be  the  great  Dr.  Thornwell,  who 
probably  never  received  a  higher  tribute  to  his  powers. 


28  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

It  is  also  clear  that  tlie  entranced  hearer  ^Yas  no  ordinary 
youth. 

From  1843  to  1845,  James  Boyce  was  a  student  at  the 
Charleston  College,  j^assing  through  the  curriculum  of  the 
Freshman  and  Sophomore  classes.  This  institution  had 
been  founded  in  1787,  and  though  lacking  sufficient  endow- 
ment to  sujjport  a  large  faculty,  it  had  some  able  teachers. 
Dr.  Brantly,  the  Baptist  pastor,  an  able  and  scholarly  man, 
was  now  president  of  the  college.  One  of  the  professors 
was  Edward  K,.  Miles,  a  student  of  Sanskrit  and  learned 
in  various  languages,  who  afterwards  became  an  Episcopal 
clergyman.  At  college  the  youth  was  increasingly  stu- 
dious ;  but  no  study  suppressed  his  exuberance  of  spirits, 
which  occasionally  overflowed  in  some  ''college  prank," 
never  injurious  to  an}^  one,  and  always  regarded  among 
his  comrades  as  venial,  because  clearly  the  result  of  mere 
humor  and  merriment.  Dr.  Brantly  formed  a  high  esti- 
mate of  his  abilities,  but  had  some  misgivings  on  the 
score  of  his  jollity,  with  which  the  grave  and  stern  presi- 
dent could  not  readily  sympathize.  Once  when  engaged 
in  some  practical  joke  on  the  campus,  James  ran  behind 
a  tree  which  was  not  big  enough  to  hide  him,  and  Dr. 
Brantly,  looking  out  of  a  window,  said,  *' There  is  Boyce, 
who  will  be  a  great  man,  if  he  does  not  become  a  devil.'' 
Yet  he  stood  well  in  every  class,  especially  in  Latin  and 
mathematics,  and  in  history.  And  no  one  was  more  popu- 
lar, in  the  class-room,  in  the  debating  society,  or  on  the 
campus.  Several  fellow-students  state  that  James's  utter 
loathing  of  everything  mean,  and  the  brave  and  manly 
stand  he  always  assumed  when  any  principle  was  involved, 
together  with  his  uniform  regard  for  the  feelings  and 
Avishes  of  others,  made  him  a  general  favorite  in  the  col- 
lege. At  a  time  when  many  students  were  hostile  to  the 
president,  young  Boyce  stood  up  for  him,  even  when  al- 
most alone.  On  one  occasion  he  slapped  a  student  in 
the  face  for  some  reason;  but  that  evening  waited  for  him 


CHILDHOOD  AND    YOUTH.  29 

and  begged  his  pardon.  James's  ringing  laugh  could  be 
heard  afar,  and  was  contagious.  He  would  sometimes 
purposely  mistranslate  a  Latin  plirase,  and  when  called  to 
account  would  justify  it  b}'-  a  joke,  which  wortliy  Dr. 
Hawkesworth,  the  Latin  professor  from  Dublin,  did  not 
always  appreciate.  Among  his  classmates  was  Francis  T. 
Miles,  a  native  of  Charleston,  and  now  a  distinguished 
physician  and  medical  professor  in  Baltimore.  In  a  letter 
of  February,  1889,  to  Dr.  Tapper,  he  speaks  concerning 
Boyce  as  follows:  — 

''  It  was  my  good  fortune  during  my  college  career  in  Charles- 
ton to  have  for  a  friend  and  classmate  James  P.  Boyce;  and  al- 
though ever  since  we  have  been  widely  separated  in  life,  I  have 
always  carried  with  me  a  strong  and  affectionate  remembrance  <.)f 
him. 

"  He  was  conspicuous  among  his  class  and  the  students  of  the 
college  by  his  talents  and  the  strong,  rapid  grasp  of  mind,  which 
not  only  enabled  him  to  master  with  ease  the  studies  of  the  cur- 
riculum, but  caused  him  to  push  his  reading,  thousflit,  and  inquiry 
quite  beyond  the  circle  of  required  recitations.  But  it  is  not  only 
as  the  clear,  original  thinker,  the  quick,  cogent  reas(mer,  that  I 
remember  him.  I  recall  him  as  the  genial,  amiable,  affectionate 
companion,  who  was  never  tempted  (how  rare  a  quality  among 
young  men  !)  to  give  pain  or  annoyance  by  a  jest,  nor,  standing 
as  he  did  on  the  high  ground  of  a  very  pure  morality,  to  scorn  or 
animadvert  upon  those  on  an  inferior  level. 

"  I  believe  his  subsequent  life  was  the  bright  day  of  this  clear 
da\ATi ;  and  he  now  rests  from  labors  which  endeared  him  to  those 
who  admired  him." 

In  March,  1845,  the  pastor  and  college  president.  Dr. 
Brantley,  died.  Born  in  North  Carolina  in  1787,  he  was 
graduated  with  distinction  at  the  South  Carolina  College 
in  Columbia,  and  early  became  remarkable  for  his  fine 
classical  culture  and  his  eloquence  as  a  preacher.  His 
pastorates  of  eight  years  at  Beaufort,  S.  C,  of  seven  years 
at  Augusta,  Ga.,  — where  he  founded  the  church,  and  was 


30  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

at  the  same  time  rector  of  an  academy,  —  and  of  eleven 
years  at  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  were 
all  surpassingly  popular  and  successful.  His  health  be- 
ginning to  fail  in  Philadelphia,  he  returned  southward, 
succeeded  Dr.  Manly  in  Charleston  in  1837,  and  soon 
after  became  president  of  Charleston  College.  Such  com- 
bined labors,  though  often  performed  by  eminent  minis- 
ters, are  necessarily  apt  to  be  exhausting.  It  was  a  great 
blessing  for  young  Boyce,  and  several  others  destined  to 
become  eminent  ministers,  to  attend  upon  the  ministry 
of  this  great  man. 

Dr.  Richard  Fuller  said  of  Brantly  that  ^^his  char- 
acteristics Avere  grandeur  of  conception,  and  reverence  for 
divine  revelation."  Dr.  Manly  said:  ''He  seemed  ever 
to  come  fresh  from  communion  with  his  Saviour,  mellowed 
and  enriched  by  hours  of  praj^erful  se'clusion.  I  must 
regard  him  as  the  most  uniformly  engaging,  instructive, 
and  inspiring  preacher  that  it  has  ever  been  my  good  for- 
tune to  hear.''  Dr.  Sprague  in  his  ''Annals"  saj^s  in 
regard  to  some  of  Brantly 's  published  writings:  "They 
were  read  and  re-read,  and  laid  up  among  the  selectest 
treasures  of  memory."  ^ 

It  was  no  doubt  partly  in  consequence  of  Dr.  Brantly's 
death  that  Mr.  Boyce  determined  at  the  close  of  that  ses- 
sion, which  was  James's  Sophomore  year,  to  send  him  to 
Brown  University.  The  father's  penetrating  insight  into 
character  must  have  already  begun  to  discern  in  the  youth 
of  eighteen  years  no  ordinary  possibilities.  There  was  in 
many  respects  a  striking  resemblance.  James  inherited 
his  father's  large  frame,  fine  head,  and  strong  features; 
also  in  a  remarkable  degree  his  business  talent  and  force 
of  will,  together  with  his  cheerfulness  even  in  times  of 
special  adversity  and  trial.    It  was  Mr.  Boyce 's  fond  hope 

''■  See  H.  A.  Tupper's  volume,  "Two  Centuries  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  South  Carolina  (1683-1883)."  Baltimore:  R.  H.  Woodward 
&Co. 


CHILDHOOD   AND   YOUTH.  31 

that  his  son  would  become  an  eminent  lawyer,  perhaps  a 
distinguished  statesman,  and  at  the  same  time  would  con- 
serve and  carry  forward  his  own  great  business  under- 
takings, and  care  for  the  financial  interests  of  his  numerous 
children. 

While  his  son  was  growing  up,  Ker  Boyce  had  lived  r. 
very  laborious  life,  for  some  years  adding  political  activities 
to  his  ever-enlarging  business  engagements.  When  the 
great  Nullification  struggle  began,  in  1830,  we  are  assured 
by  Chief  Justice  O'Xeall,  from  personal  knowledge,  that 
Mr.  Boyce  was  opposed  to  the  dangerous  experiment ;  but 
in  the  political  combinations  that  arose,  and  through  the 
skilful  tactics  of  General  James  Hamilton,  he  was  induced 
to  act  with  the  Nullification  party,  as  practically  the  wisest 
course.  The  Chief  Justice,  who  was  on  the  opposite  side, 
says  that  this  ^^ secured  the  triumph  of  Nullification;" 
for  Mr.  Boyce's  many  business  friends,  scattered  all  over 
the  State,  *^took  very  much  his  lead."  He  was  subse- 
quently a  representative  in  the  Legislature  for  the  parish 
of  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's,  and  State  Senator  during 
two  terms  (1840-1848).  When  the  Bank  of  Charleston 
was  started,  Mr.  Boyce  took  a  large  amount  of  the  stock, 
which  he  found  very  profitable;  and  some  time  afterwards 
was  president  of  the  bank  for  several  years.  This  was  at 
that  time  the  largest  bank  in  the  South,  having  a  capital 
of  three  millions.  S.  Y.  Tupper,  Esq.,  of  Charleston 
(who  died  in  1891),  being  in  Washington  city  in  1840, 
had  a  conversation  with  President  Van  Buren,  in  which 
*'the  President  said  he  had  read  Mr.  Boyce's  bank  reports 
with  much  interest  and  instruction,  and  that  they  were  the 
most  able  and  intelligent  papers  on  finance  and  banking 
he  had  ever  read,  and  had  been  of  service  to  him  in  his 
messages  to  Congress."^ 

Mr.  Boyce  was  also  actively  concerned  in  the  leading 

1  Mr.  Tupper  wrote  down  these  words  soon  after  leaving  the  Presi- 
dent, and  gave  them  in  a  letter  of  January  9,  1889. 


32  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

improvements  of  the  city,  such  as  the  erection  of  the 
Charleston  Hotel  and  the  Hayne  Street  buildings;  and 
two  important  wliarves  still  bear  his  name.  In  1837  he 
passed  through  a  second  great  commercial  revulsion.  But 
though  popularly  supposed  to  be  much  shaken,  he  had 
learned  from  the  former  experience,  and  was  now  in  no  real 
danger.  He  had  to  pay  out  large  sums  for  his  friends  and 
customers,  but  he  had  habitually  taken  pains  to  become 
liable  for  no  man  who  had  not  more  than  the  corresponding 
amount  of  visible  property.  Many  an  eminent  business 
man  has  from  some  early  experience  of  severe  struggles  and 
losses  —  sometimes  even  temporary  failure  —  acquired  the 
prudence  necessary  to  temper  his  enterprising  spirit,  and 
enable  him  to  steer  safely  through  all  the  financial  storms 
of  subsequent  life.  After  this  period  of  trial  in  1837, 
Mr.  Boyce  retired  from  the  factorage  and  commission  busi- 
ness, and  employed  his  great  and  increasing  wealth  in  other 
ways.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Graniteville 
Manufacturing  Company,  which  established  near  Aiken, 
S.  C,  the  most  extensive  cotton  factories  in  the  Southern 
States.  This  great  establishment  is  still  prosperous,  and 
stock  in  it  is  still  held  by  some  of  Mr.  Boyce's  heirs.  He 
also  united  with  a  friend  in  establishing  a  wholesale  dry- 
goods  house  in  New  York  city  which  did  a  very  large 
Southern  business,  and  of  which  w^e  shall  afterwards  hear, 
in  the  course  of  his  son's  history.  Soon  after  the  period 
we  have  reached,  he  began  large  investments  in  coal  lands 
around  Chattanooga,  and  a  furnace,  foundry,  etc.,  in  that 
rising  city,  which  were  afterwards  developed  and  made  ex- 
tremely profitable  by  James,  as  his  father's  executor.  Mr. 
Ker  Boyce  never  became  a  church  member,  but  he  was  for 
many  years  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Baptist 
church  to  which  his  wife  belonged,  and  a  generous  finan- 
cial supporter. 


AT  BROWN   UNIVERSITY.  33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AT    BROWN    UNIVERSITY. 

THE  Baptists  of  South  Carolina  had  from  the  begin- 
ning taken  an  active  interest  in  Brown  University' 
(originally  called  Ehode  Island  College),  founded  at 
Providence,  E.  L,  in  1765,  and  generous  contributions 
were  sent  by  them  towards  its  support  and  endowment. 
This  being  the  first  American  college  founded  by  Bap- 
tists, it  awakened  interest  among  the  churches  of  that 
denomination  throughout  the  colonies.  The  movement  for 
its  institution  began  with  the  noble  old  Philadelphia  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  heartil}^  taken  up  in  Ehode  Island;  and 
it  is  doubtful  whether  anywhere  else  the  zeal  for  it  was 
as  great  as  in  South  Carolina,  where  the  leading  Baptists 
were  already  quite  pronounced  in  favor  of  an  educated 
ministry.  In  fact,  it  was  at  first  a  question  whether  the 
proposed  institution  should  be  placed  in  Ehode  Island  or 
in  South  Carolina;  and  the  former  is  said  to  have  been 
preferred  ^  because  the  principles  of  religious  liberty  which 
Eoger  Williams  had  infused  into  that  Colony  made  it  eas}'- 
for  a  Baptist  institution  to  obtain  a  charter,  while  in 
South  Carolina  there  was  a  religious  establishment,  namely, 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Among  the  honored  presidents 
of  the  University  had  been  Jonathan  Maxcy,  D.D.,  who 
afterwards  went  South  for  his  health,  and  was  for  sixteen 
years  president  of  the  College  of  South  Carolina  at  Co- 
lumbia, where  his  extraordinary  eloquence  was  greatly 
admired  by  such  men  as  Mr.  Petigru  and  Judge  O'Xeall. 

1  So  Dr.  Bovpe  stated  in  an  address  before  the  alumni  of  Brown 
Universit}'  in  1871. 

3 


34  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

He  died  there  in  1820,  and  his  tomb  is  conspicuous  on  the 
campus. 

When  young  Boyce  entered  Brown,  in  1845,  the  president 
for  eighteen  years  had  been  Francis  Wayland,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  all  American  educators, 
and  who  made  a  more  potent  impression  ujDon  the  char- 
acter, opinions,  and  usefulness  of  James  Boyce  than  any 
other  person  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Dr.  Way- 
land's  famous  sermon  on  ''  The  Moral  Dignity  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Enterprise  ''  had  been  preached  in  Boston  as  early 
as  1823.  His  ''Elements  of  Moral  Science,"  published 
in  1835,  was  already  widely  used,  and  is  believed  to  have 
become  the  most  popular  of  all  treatises  on  the  subject  in 
our  language,  including  a  revised  edition  in  1865.  The 
''Elements  of  Political  Economy  "  had  appeared  in  1837. 
From  the  nature  of  the  subject,  and  the  necessity  of  taking 
sides  upon  some  questions  involving  heated  political  dis- 
cussion, this  treatise  gained  no  phenomenal  circulation, 
but  it  has  been  very  widely  used,  and  regarded  as  a  re- 
markably good  introduction  to  political  economy  as  then 
held  and  taught.  Dr.  Wayland  was  already  giving  a  full 
course  of  original  lectures  on  Intellectual  Philosophy,  but 
his  treatise  on  that  subject  did  not  appear  till  1854.  It 
is  a  notable  epoch  in  the  life  of  many  a  gifted  young 
man  when  he  first  makes  systematic  study  of  psychology 
and  logic,  of  ethics  and  sociology.  This  must  have 
been  in  a  very  high  degree  the  case  with  young  Boyce 
when  studying  these  subjects  under  the  lead  of  a  man  so 
able  in  general,  so  impressive  as  an  instructor,  and  (as  we 
can  now  see)  so  like  in  many  respects  to  the  type  of  char- 
acter and  abilities  which  the  young  man  himself  was  des- 
tined to  develop.  For  we  can  perceive  that  each  possessed 
sound  practical  judgment,  combined  with  love  of  abstract 
thinking,  and  intense  but  quiet  religious  fervor;  each 
showed  great  force  of  will  and  personal  dignity,  united 
with    humility,    considerateness,    and  benevolence;    each 


AT    BROWN   UNIVERSITY.  35 

was  eminently  truth-loving  in  studious  inquiry  and  in 
statement,  promptly  indignant  at  any  exhibition  of  insin- 
cerity or  dishonesty,  and  yet  forbearing,  and  in  all  per- 
sonal matters  ready  to  forgive;  each  was  cheerful  and 
sometimes  merry,  yet  full  of  serious  aims  and  purposes. 
In  style  also,  both  men  were  clear  in  explanation  and 
strong  in  argument,  and  used  excellent  English.  These 
similarities  may  help  to  account  for  the  profound  and  per- 
manent impression  made  by  Dr.  Wayland  ui^on  this  pupil, 
who  throughout  his  life  delighted  in  every  grateful  ex- 
pression of  obligation,  and  in  supporting  his  own  views  by 
reference  to  any  similar  opinion  of  the  great  college  presi- 
dent. And  if  this  instance  was  conspicuous,  it  was  far 
from  being  singular;  for  no  pupil  of  Dr.  Wayland  can 
have  failed  to  receive  benefit,  and  very  many,  including 
men  of  great  distinction  in  various  callings,  have  ac- 
counted their  contact  with  him  as  the  highest  educational 
privilege  of  their  life.  Mr.  Bo3'ce  adopted,  when  he  be- 
came a  teacher  of  theology,  President  Wayland's  method 
of  analytical  recitations,  without  questioning;  and  some 
other  pupils,  probably  many  others,  have  done  likewise. 
Hon.  C.  S.  Bradle}^,  Chief  Justice  of  Ehode  Island,  stated 
to  the  writer  some  j^ears  ago  that  the  alumni  of  Brown 
were  proud  of  the  very  large  proportion  of  eminent  law- 
3^ers  included  in  their  number;  and  he  believed  it  to  result 
from  Wayland's  method  of  teaching,  since  the  main  thing 
for  a  lawyer  is  the  power  of  making  a  clear  and  complete 
analysis  of  the  case. 

Dr.  Wayland's  studious  fairness  and  moderation  in 
argument  had  just  been  strikingly  exhibited  in  a  newspa- 
per discussion  with  Dr.  Richard  Fuller,  then  of  Beaufort, 
S.  C.  (afterwards  of  Baltimore),  on  ^'Domestic  Slaver}^  con- 
sidered as  a  Scriptural  Institution.*'  The  articles  on  both 
sides  were  afterwards  published  in  a  volume.  The  sympa- 
thizers with  each  of  the  disputants  generally  considered 
their  champion  to  have  had  the  best  of  the  argument;  but 


36  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

it  was  universally  agreed  that  both  conducted  the  discus- 
sion in  a  good  Christian  spirit  and  with  good  taste.  This 
was  notable,  for  it  was  a  day  of  grievous  political  bitter- 
ness, and  the  controversy  as  to  slavery  was  swelling  higher 
and  higher  towards  the  terrific  outburst  of  fifteen  j^ears 
later. 

Among  the  other  professors  during  Boyce's  two  years 
at  Brown  University  were  several  men  of  marked  ability 
and  distinction.  Dr.  Alexis  Caswell,  Professor  of  Math- 
ematics and  Natural  Philosophy,  was  an  able  and  ear- 
nest teacher,  an  agreeable  preacher,  and  remarkable 
for  his  courtesy  as  a  gentleman,  and  the  strong  hold 
he  took  upon  the  respect  and  affection  of  young  men. 
William  Gammell,  Professor  of  'Rhetoric  and  English 
Literature,  was  a  man  of  fine  literary  taste,  and  the  au- 
thor of  some  well-written  books.  John  L.  Lincoln,  son 
of  the  famous  Boston  publisher,  had  just  become  Professor 
of  the  Latin  Language  and  Literature,  after  a  course  at 
Brown  and  Newton,  and  several  years  as  a  student  in  Ger- 
many, and  was  alread}^  a  pleasing  and  inspiring  teacher; 
he  afterwards  published  very  good  and  popular  editions  of 
Liv}^  and  Horace.  James  E,.  Boise  had  also  recentlj^  be- 
come full  Professor  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature, 
which  he  has  ever  since  continued  to  teach,  in  various 
institutions,  wdth  uncommon  exactness  of  scholarship 
and  skill  as  an  instructor,  and  with  the  high  respect 
of  all  who  know  him.  He  is  now  Emeritus  Professor  of 
New  Testament  Interpretation  in  the  Divinity  School 
of  Chicago  Universitj^;  besides  ''Exercises  in  Greek 
Composition  "  and  other  text-books  for  school  and  col- 
lege, he  has  published  several  small  and  excellent  volumes 
explaining  the  Greek  text  of  certain  Epistles  of  Paul. 

The  Junior  class  of  1845-1846,  w^hich  James  P.  Boyce 
entered,  contained  thirty-five  men.  Several  of  these  must 
be  here  mentioned;  and  there  are  doubtless  others  whose 
names  would  attract  the  attention  of  persons  more  thor- 


AT  BROWN  UNIVERSITY.  37 

oughly  acquainted  with  New  England  and  the  Northwest. 
Frederic  Denison  became  a  Baptist  minister,  pastor  of  sev- 
eral churches  in  Ehode  Island  and  Connecticut,  and  cliap- 
lain  in  the  Union  Army  for  three  years,  and  has  publislied 
a  large  number  of  pleasing  and  popular  works.  George 
Park  Fisher  afterwards  studied  theology  at  Yale  and  An- 
dover  and  in  Germany,  and  is  the  well-known  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Yale  Divinity  School.  Be- 
sides numerous  elaborate  articles  in  the  reviews,  he  has 
published  quite  a  number  of  valuable  books,  including 
**The  Beginnings  of  Christianity/'  ^^  History  of  the 
Keformation, "  << Outlines  of  Universal  History,"  ''Faith 
and  Rationalism, '^  ''The  Grounds  of  Theistic  and  Chris- 
tian Belief,'^  and  "History  of  the  Christian  Church." 
Eeuben  Aldridge  Guild  has  spent  his  life  as  librarian  of 
Brown  University,  becoming  one  of  the  eminent  librarians 
of  the  country.  He  has  produced  several  books  of  great 
interest,  including  a  life  of  James  Manning  (the  first 
president  of  the  university),  a  Biograj^hical  Introduction 
to  the  Writings  of  Koger  Williams,  a  History  of  Brown 
University,  and  "Chaplain  Smith  and  the  Baptists." 
He  and  Boyce  formed  a  special  friendship,  which  was 
maintained  with  ever-increasing  cordiality  through  all 
the  years.  Whenever  Dr.  Boyce  was  able  to  attend 
annual  meetings  of  his  class  he  was  the  guest  of  Dr. 
Guild;  and  a  visit  of  the  latter  to  Boyce  in  Louisville  is 
remembered  by  many  with  special  interest.  John  Hill 
Luther  graduated  at  Newton  in  1850,  and  has  ever  since 
lived  in  the  South,  as  teacher  and  Baptist  minister,  —  in 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  in  Missouri  and  Texas.  He 
edited  the  "Central  Baptist"  of  St.  Louis  for  ten  years, 
was  long  president  of  Baylor  Female  College  at  Belton, 
Texas,  and  is  now  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "Baptist 
Standard,"  Waco.  He  delivered  an  address  at  a  memorial 
meeting  after  Dr.  Boyce's  death.  Amos  Fletcher  Spaul- 
ding   was    afterwards    graduated    at    Newton,    and   spent 


38  MEMOIR  or   JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

his  life  as  a  Baptist  pastor  in  Canada  and  New  England, 
much  respected  and  beloved.  Ambrose  P.  S.  Stuart  be- 
came a  distinguished  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  New 
England  and  Illinois,  afterwards  residing  in  Nebraska. 
Benjamin  Thomas  went  to  Burmah  as  a  missionar}^,  and 
has  been  called  ''the  Apostle  to  the  Karens."  From  a 
class  report  forty  years  after  their  graduation  it  appears 
that  thirteen  of  the  class  became  ministers,  eight  lawyers, 
and  five  presidents  or  professors,  and  four  are  set  down 
as  poets. 

According  to  the  class  system,  which  at  that  time  was 
rigorously  observed,  a  student  had  but  little  association 
with  members  of  other  classes  than  his  own.  But  it 
ought  to  be  mentioned  that  among  the  Seniors  of  Boyce's 
Junior  year  were  Samuel  Sullivan  Cox,  —  the  celebrated 
''Sunset  Cox,"  —  and  Francis  Wayland,  Jr.,  now  the  dis- 
tinguished Professor  of  Law  in  Yale  University.  Among 
the  Sophomores  of  that  year  were  James  Kirk  Menden- 
hall,  of  Charleston,  who  was  a  friend  of  Boyce  from  boy- 
hood, was  afterwards  with  him  at  Princeton,  and  has 
been  very  useful  as  a  Baptist  minister  in  South  Caro- 
lina; James  Wheaton  Smith,  who  graduated  at  Newton, 
and  was  long  an  eminent  Baptist  pastor  in  Philadel- 
phia; and  Adin  B.  Underwood,  who  was  Boyce's  room- 
mate, and  an  earnest  Christian,  who  became  a  prominent 
lawj^er  and  a  brigadier-general  in  the  Union  army;  and 
the  two  had  a  joyful  reunion  at  Providence  some  years 
after  the  war.  The  Freshman  class  of  that  year  included 
James  Burrell  Angell,  now  president  of  the  University 
of  Michigan,  and  Heman  Lincoln  Wayland,  now  editor 
of  the  "National  Baptist;  "  and  in  the  Freshman  class  of 
Boyce's  senior  year  was  George  Dana  Boardman,  now 
Baptist  pastor  in  Philadelj^hia. 

In  May,  1845,  James  P.  Boyce  had  been  present  at  the 
Baptist  Convention  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  which  formed  the 
Southern    Baptist    Convention,  —  though    he    was    not   a 


AT  BROWN   UNIVERSITY.  '  39 

member  of  that  bod}^,  being  not  yet  a  church-member. 
But  although  a  division  then  took  place  between  Nortliern 
and  Southern  Baptists  as  to  tlieir  missionary  work,  those 
of  the  South  felt,  and  have  always  continued  to  feel,  a 
deep  interest  in  the  work  of  their  Northern  brethren,  and 
especially  in  Adoniram  Judson.  So  it  cannot  have  failed 
to  im23ress  the  young  student  when,  in  November,  1845, 
Judson  came  to  Brown  University,  of  which  he  was  an 
honored  graduate,  and  remained  some  time  as  a  guest  of 
Dr.  Wayland.  Some  persons  of  like  age  remember  to 
have  been  profoundly  impressed  hj  even  the  reports  of 
persons  present  at  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in 
Kichmond  the  following  spring,  who  saw  the  great  mis- 
sionarj'-,  and  could  repeat  the  few  words  he  was  strong 
enough  to  speak. 

Concerning  Boyce's  life  as  a  student  in  Brown  Uni- 
versit}",  the  testimony  on  all  hands  is  that  he  did  his  work 
thoroughly  and  well.  Take,  for  example,  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter  of  James  R.  Boise,  the  Professor  of 
Greek,  written  in  February,  1889 :  — 

*^He  was  a  pupil  of  miue  in  his  college  course,  and  I  have  a 
very  distinct  recollection  of  him  as  he  appeared  in  the  class-room. 
He  was  always  attentive,  scholarly,  and  a  perfect  gentleman. 
He  was  one  of  that  type  of  students  whom  a  teacher  does  not 
soon  forget.  Though  more  than  forty  years  have  elapsed  since 
that  time,  and  though  I  have  had  classes,  often  very  large, 
through  the  entire  intervening  period  (excepting  a  year  and  a 
half  spent  in  Europe),  yet  there  is  no  one  of  the  many  who  have 
been  in  my  class-room  whom  I  have  loved  and  respected  more 
than  James  P.  Boyce." 

We  begin  now  to  find  letters  from  the  young  student  to 
his  friend  and  future  brother-in-law,  H.  A.  Tupper,  of 
Charleston.  They  are  at  first  chiefly  occupied  with  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  their  young  friends  in  that  city,  and 
the  experiences  of  a  beginner  at   Brown,    together  with 


40  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

plenty  of  the  gay  badinage  which  is  natural  in  the  inter- 
course of  young  fellows  at  the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  Boyce  had  excelled  in  mathe- 
matics during  his  Charleston  studies,  but  here  he  found 
that  this  branch  w^as  completed  within  the  Sophomore  year. 
His  father  urged  him  to  enter  Junior,  if  possible, —  washing 
him  to  begin  promptly  the  study  of  law;  but  he  had  done 
nothing  in  analytical  geometry,  and  a  letter  tells  of  the 
severe  and  desperate  exertions  he  made  to  work  up  this' 
subject  in  time  for  the  entrance  examination,  sometimes 
tempted  to  give  it  up  as  too  difficult  a  task,  but  finally 
knowing  every  proposition  Professor  Caswell  called  for.  A 
month  after  the  session  began,  we  meet  something  of  a  new 
student's  usual  summary  and  sharp  judgment  of  one  or 
another  professor.  Some  young  man  had  said  in  Charles- 
ton that  the  students  at  Brown  were  not  gentlemen;  but 
Boyce  finds  it  far  otherwise.  ''There  are  some  as  noble- 
hearted  fellows  here  as  you  would  find  anywhere;  only  one 
or  two  in  college  with  whom  I  would  not  wish  to  associate, 
and  these  are  gentlemen's  sons,  though  not  themselves 
what  I  call  gentlemen."  This  favorable  judgment  came 
from  one  who  through  life  was  extremely  sensitive  to 
every  point  of  propriety  and  honor.  In  another  letter  he 
says  it  was  reported  that  to  a  student  who  had  greatly 
misbehaved,  Dr.  Wayland  said,  ''My  son,  go  home;  and  if 
you  can  make  anything  of  yourself,  do  try  and  do  so." 
Boyce  thought  this  a  fine  combination  of  paternal  kindness 
and  strict  discipline. 

Catalogues  show  that  at  this  period  the  Junior  class 
studied  Physics,  Chemistry,  and  Physiology,  something  in 
Greek  and  Latin  poetry.  Modern  Languages  (in  Boyce's 
case  the  French,  which  he  acquired  in  a  very  short  time, 
and  through  life  read  with  great  ease).  Logic  (which 
brought  him  in  contact  with  President  Wayland),  and 
Modern  History,  in  Smythe's  Lectures, —  a  book  to  which 
he  not  unfrequently  referred  in  after  life.      Our  student 


AT  BROWN  UNIVERSITY.  41 

soon  begins  to  glorify  his  literary  societ}",  the  United 
Brothers,  which  has  most  of  the  Southern  students,  and  in 
general  the  best  men  of  the  University,  admitting  a  few 
exceptions.  Didn't  we  all  talk  so,  especially  during  the 
first  session,  about  ''our  society"?  He  supposes  his 
friend  has  ''heard  of  the  secret  societies  which  are  gen- 
erally attached  to  the  Northern  colleges;  "  and  mentions 
in  confidence  that  he  has  just  been  initiated  into  one  of 
them,  the  Delta  Phi.  He  thinks  these  societies  are  some- 
thing similar  to  the  Odd  Fellows  and  Masons,  though 
he"ld  for  different  purposes.  It  is  believed  that  the  col- 
lege secret  societies  were  at  that  time  just  beginning  their 
somewhat  checkered  career.  In  one  letter  he  gives  some 
account  of  the  Senior  speaking,  saying  that  S.  S.  Cox  was 
the  best,  having  "  in  reality  a  splendid  piece.  He  is  by  far 
the  best  writer  of  his  class.  His  speech  was  well  written, 
well  delivered,  and  was  filled  with  some  of  the  most 
splendid  imagery."  One  can't  help  wondering  whether 
already  the  imager}^  included  a  gorgeous  "sunset,''  such 
as  afterwards  gave  to  the  admired  statesman  his  familiar 
sobriquet. 

College  students  are  not  at  the  time  fully  aware  to  what 
an  extent  they  are  influencing  each  other,  intellectually 
and  morally.  Yet  every  one  who  looks  thoughtfully  back 
upon  his  own  life  when  prolonged,  and  around  upon  cur- 
rent and  recorded  examples,  will  be  likely  to  perceive  that 
a  young  man's  fellow-students  are  hardly  less  important  to 
him  than  his  instructors.  Even  the  memory  and  fame  of 
those  who  studied  there  in  other  days,  and  have  since 
achieved  something  honorable  in  the  world,  becomes  to 
susceptible  young  minds  a  powerful  incentive.  There  is 
thus  great  advantage  in  attending  an  institution  which 
has  a  large  number  of  students,  gathered  from  far  and 
wide,  and  possesses  an  inspiring  list  of  distinguished 
alumni. 

The  glimpses  we  catch  of  James  Boyce  in  his  association 


42  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

with  fellow-students"  at  Brown,  reveal  the  same  character 
and  disposition  we  have  heretofore  observed.  Dr.  J.  H. 
Luther,  in  an  address  after  Bo^^^e's  death,  speats  as 
follows :  — 

'^Little  did  we  once  think  that  the  central  figure  of  a  group 
that  nightly  met  in  a  well-furnished  room  in  University  Hall 
would  be  chosen  of  God  to  be  a  leader  in  theological  thought, 
and  the  founder  of  a  school  of  the  prophets.  That  group  was 
composed  of  noble  spirits,  —  Stoddard,  EUis,  Robert,  Garnsey, — 
not  one  then  a  professor  of  religion ;  but  they  were  all  true  gen- 
tlemen. A  happier  set  of  fellows  I  have  never  met  since.  They 
enjoyed  the  good  will  of  their  professors,  and  the  respect  of  the 
entire  class.-  But  '  Jim  '  was  the  leading  spirit.  There  was  a 
magnetism  in  his  humor,  a  nobility  in  his  presence,  and  a 
manly  expression  in  his  language,  which  made  him  attractive 
to  all.  Blessed  with  a  generous  allowance  from  his  father,  he 
took  a  lively  pleasure  in  helping  a  poor  student  to  bridge  over 
a  crisis  in  his  college  course ;  and  when  he  had  once  made  a  gift, 
he  would  never  suffer  the  recipient  to  return  it." 

It  is  remembered  that  at  the  end  of  a  session,  when 
James  submitted  a  statement  of  the  j^ear's  expenditures, 
his  father  expressed  some  surprise  at  the  gift  of  a  large 
sum  to  a  fellow-student,  and  was  evidently  inclined  to  dis- 
approve. But  one  of  his  daughters  said,  ''You  know, 
Father,  that  if  James  had  spent  it  in  buying  a  horse  or  the 
like,  you  would  not  have  objected.''  And  so  the  matter 
was  dropped. 

At  the  approach  of  Christmas  vacation,  Boyce  was  sent 
as  ambassador  to  Dr.  Wayland,  and  obtained  leave  for  the 
Southern  students,  who  could  not  go  home,  to  continue  oc- 
cupying their  rooms,  and  get  their  meals  down  town.  He 
had  thought  of  going  to  Boston;  but  it  was  ''  so  tremen- 
dously cold  that  were  I  in  Boston  I  hardly  believe  I  'd 
budge  a  foot  from  my  lodgings."  Students  from  the  far 
South  of  course  felt  the  difference  of  climate. 

In  March,  1846,  he  lets  his  correspondent  know  that  he 


AT  BROWN  UNIVERSITY.  43 

has  been  chosen  to  take  part  in  the  Junior  speaking,  by  an 
amusing  extravagance  of  complaint  as  to  a  professor's  cor- 
rections of  his  address:  ^'Confound  it  all,  here  have  I 
been  called  away  just  at  this  moment  by  the  old  prof., 
to  examine  my  exhibition  piece;  and  as  a  matter  of  course 
have  more  work  to  do.  But  wait,  I  will  tell  you  when  I 
come  back.  ...  As  I  thought,  more  corrections,  dubita- 
tions,  and  scratchations  (if  I  may  manufacture  a  word), 
than  I  would  have  thought  it  possible  for  one  man  to  make 
in  a  year,  and  he  has  had  it  but  a  day  and  a  half.  Alas, 
alas,  wretched  being  that  I  am  !  These  confounded  profs, 
are  the  hardest  to  please.  If  you  don't  curse,  they  tell 
you  your  piece  is  too  tame ;  if  j^ou  do,  they  tell  you  it  is 
profane.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  tell  what  they  do 
want.  Now,  here  I  have  one  half  my  piece  to  write  over, 
and  the  whole  to  copy  over,  just  for  those  inquisitive 
women  who  must  be  coming  up  here  to  see  us  make 
fools  of  ourselves.  Oh,  how  I  wish  they  were  all  sunk 
in  the  bottom  of  the  sea!"  He  is  evidently  proud  of 
the  distinction,  and  extremely  anxious  to  please  both 
the  professors  and  the  rather  dreaded  audience  from  the 
city.  The  little  outburst  reveals  a  lively  and  exuberaut 
nature. 

We  come  now  to  a  highly  important  event  in  James  P. 
Boyce's  life, —  his  conversion  to  Christ.  It  is  known  that 
Dr.  Wayland  earnestly  longed  and  labored  for  the  conver- 
sion of  all  his  students,  and  often  greatly  imj^ressed  them 
by  private  conversations  as  well  as  public  addresses  and 
sermons.  In  this  he  was  seconded  by  other  professors  and 
by  devout  students.  The  class  to  which  Boyce  belonged 
contained  up  to  its  Junior  year  many  who  were  not  Chris- 
tians. In  1889  Dr.  R.  A.  Guild,  the  librarian,  published 
in  the  ''Watchman''  a  series  of  articles  entitled  ''Revi- 
vals in  Brown  University,"  from  one  of  which  we  extract. 
It  is  stated  that  many  students  below  the  Senior  Class  of 
1846  were  not  professors  of  religion. 


44  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

''This  was  a  source  of  anxiety  to  Dr.  Wayland,  who  in  his 
familiar  talks  to  us  frequently  alluded  to  the  subject,  and  urged 
upon  Christians  the  importance  of  earnest  prayer  and  special 
effort  in  behalf  of  the  iuipenitent.  Meetings  for  prayer  and  con- 
ference were  for  a  time  held  every  evening,  and  there  were  several 
conversions.  In  September,  1845,  James  Petigru  Boyce,  whose 
recent  death  is  so  deeply  deplored,  especially  throughout  the 
South,  entered  the  class  as  a  student  from  Charleston  College. 
He  was  a  fine  scholar,  very  popular  in  his  ways,  and  the  heir-pre- 
sumptive to  large  wealth,  his  father  being  the  richest  man  in 
Charleston.  His  classmates  at  once  became  deeply  interested  in 
his  spiritual  welfare,  and  made  him  a  subject  of  special  prayer, 
that  his  wealth  and  gifts  and  graces  might  all  bo^KJOritiecrated  to 
the  Master's  use.  Several  of  the  class  who  were  thus  interested 
had  '  power  in  prayer.'  I  might  meution  one  especially,  whom, 
on  account  of  his  piety,  we  named  '  St.  James,'  and  another, 
the  sainted  Thomas,  whom  we  know  now  in  missionary  history 
as  the  Apostle  to  the  Karens. 

"  The  usual  college  fast  for  the  last  Thursday  in  February 
was  a  day  of  great  solemnity,  and  was  attended  by  the  students 
generally,  including  Boyce,  who  appeared  to  be  deeply  interested. 
The  meeting  in  the  morning  was  conducted  by  Dr.  Wayland,  who 
made  the  opening  prayer.  He  was  followed  by  Dr.  Caswell,  who 
spoke  upon  the  necessity  of  religion  in  college,  and  dwelt  upon 
the  influence  exerted  by  pious  students.  Professor  Gammell  en- 
larged upon  the  importance  of  cultivating  our  spiritual  natures  as 
well  as  improving  our  intellectual  faculties.  In  the  afternoon, 
Dr.  Wayland  preached  an  eloquent  and  practical  discourse,  ad- 
dressed mainly  to  the  impenitent.  Shortly  after  this  occurred 
the  spring  vacation  for  1846." 

James  K.  Mendenhall  tells  that  he  and  Boyce  went  at 
that  time  by  steamer  from  New  York  to  Charleston.  The 
voyage  was  in  a  rather  small  sailing-vessel,  and  extremely 
protracted.  He  noticed  that  Boyce  kept  his  state-room  a 
great  deal,  and  supposed  he  was  reading  a  novel  or  the 
like ;  but  at  length  found  that  he  was  reading  the  Bible. 
They  had  then  much  talk  together,  and  before  arriving  at 
Charleston  he  Vvas  deeply  under  conviction  of  sin.     We 


AT  BROWN   UNIVERSITY.  45 

learn  incidentally  from  a  subsequent  letter  that  some  two 
years  before  this  he  liad  been  a  good  deal  moved,  but  the 
feeling  had  passed  away.  On  reaching  the  city  they  were 
met  by  the  news  that  their  friend  H.  A.  Tupper  had  just 
been  received  into  the  church,  and  that  one  of  Boyce's 
sisters  was  deeply  concerned.  That  wonderful  j^reacher, 
Dr.  Ricliard  Fuller,  had  come  from  Beaufort,  and  was 
preaching  every  day,  and  a  mighty  religious  movement 
was  pervading  the  community.  The  appeals  of  Allen 
Tupper  to  James  and  his  sister  deepened  his  impressions. 
This  sister,  on  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Boyce's  funeral,  recalled 
an  expressioi.  used  at  the  time  in  regard  to  her  brother, 
which  shows  his  high  reputation  for  moralit}^,  and  her 
imperfect  conception  at  that  time  of  the  nature  of  the 
Gospel.  She  said,  ''But  James  has  not  been  so  bad  as 
the  rest  of  us."  He,  however,  felt  himself  a  ruined  sin- 
ner, and,  like  the  rest,  had  to  look  to  the  merits  of  Christ 
alone  for  salvation.  On  the  22d  of  April  he  was  bap- 
tized, Dr.  Fuller's  meetings  being  still  in  progress.  The 
Charleston  pastor  at  this  time  (1845-1847)  was  N.  M. 
Crawford,  from  Georgia,  who  afterwards  became  quite  dis- 
tinguished as  a  college  professor  and  president.  Let  us 
pause  to  notice  that  young  James  Boyce  had  thus,  by  the 
age  of  nineteen,  been  brought  under  the  special  influence 
of  six  of  the  most  notable  Baptist  ministers  in  America,  — 
Manlj^  andBrantly,  Tucker,  Wayland,  Crawford,  and  Fuller. 
Writing  from  Brown  University  on  May  15,  Mr.  Boyce 
speaks  with  great  interest  of  the  previous  Sunday,  which 
he  and  Mendenhall  spent  in  Philadelj^hia  on  their  w^ay 
back.  They  attended  in  the  morning  Dr.  Ide's  church, 
and  heard  from  some  visiting  minister  ''a  most  excellent 
sermon,"  which  is  reported  at  considerable  length.  At 
the  afternoon  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  — 

''We  spent  a  delightfally  solemn  hour  in  commemorating  the 
death  of  our  Redeemer.  It  seemed  so  delightful  thus  among 
strangers  to  joiu  in  recalling  that  event  which  makes  us  brothers 


46  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

and  sisters.  As  I  looked  around  I  was  almost  ready  to  go  up  and 
speak  with  those  around  me  as  to  our  hopes  of  meeting  in  heaven. 
I  am  sorry  now  that  I  did  not ;  I  think  it  would  have  been  better 
for  me  if  I  had  done  so." 

The  letter  continues :  — 

''  There  has  been  no  revival  here.  The  work  has  been  going 
on  among  a  great  number  of  the  colleges,  but  we  have  none  here. 
Pray  for  us,  Allen,  pray  for  us ;  pray  that  God  may  shower  down 
his  Spirit  among  us,  and  bring  sinners  to  repentance.  There  is  a 
strong  feeling  among  those  of  the  college  who  have  professed 
Christ,  and  they  I  believe  are  praying  earnestly  for  a  revival. 
But  what  though  we  pray  forever,  and  use  no  means  of  exhorta- 
tion, can  we  expect  our  prayers  to  be  answered  f  Surely  not ;  and 
yet  that  is  just  our  case.  .  .  .  The  members  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  are  interested  for  us.  They  have  a  prayer- meeting  every 
morning  from  eight  to  half-past  eight  o'clock,  and  at  two  o'clock 
on  Sundays ;  and  while  praying  for  the  youth  of  the  church  they 
are  also  kind  enough  to  remember  us,  and  to  offer  up  prayers  for 
a  revival  here.  I  hope  their  prayers  may  be  answered ;  I  am  sure 
they  are  needed." 

The  letter  concludes  with  loving  messages  and  exhorta- 
tions to  the  recent  converts  in  Charleston. 

With  this  letter  accords  the  further  narrative  of  Dr. 
Guild:  ^'He  returned  to  college  a  changed  man.  He 
at  once  joined  the  religious  society,  and  with  characteristic 
energy  and  zeal  engaged  in  efforts  to  promote  a  revival,  of 
which  his  conversion  may  be  regarded  as  the  beginning.'' 
His  subsequent  letters  show  similar  fervor  and  zeal.  He 
proposes  to  join  by  letter  the  First  Church,  and  begins  to 
teach  a  class  in  the  Sunday-school.  He  is  glad  to  hear 
that  his  correspondent  has  decided  to  be  a  minister.  He 
speaks  with  much  interest  of  some  devotional  tracts  and 
books  he  has  been  reading,  and  of  the  Foreign  Mission 
Journal  just  started  by  the  F.  M.  Board  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  at  Richmond.  He  tells  of  a  serious 
fellows-student,   reared  under  Unitarian   influences,  whom 


AT  BROWN  UNIVERSITY.  47 

by  prayerful  effort  he  has  convinced  of  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  the  need  of  atonement.  An  address  was  given 
at  Brown  just  before  the  close  of  the  session  by  J.  L. 
Shuck,  a  missionary  to  China,  —  now  connected  with  the 
Southern  Board,  —  and  made  quite  an  impression. 

"  Those  who  are  accustomed  to  call  all  nations  barbarian  and 
ignorant  except  some  two  or  three,  Mr.  Shuck's  remarks  must 
astonish.  To  those  also  who  put  education  before  Christianity  as 
a  means  of  civilization,  what  a  lessou  must  his  account  furnish ! 
To  think  that  a  nation  should  be  so  literary,  should  have  ad- 
vanced so  far  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  yet  present  such  a 
picture  of  degradation  in  morals  !  .  .  .  I  only  wish  there  were 
more  to  go  to  carry  the  news  of  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  world. 
I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  of  the  efforts  being  made  in  Charleston  for 
the  cause  of  missions." 

In  the  summer  vacation  (1846)  he  made  a  long  trip 
for  recreation  and  improvement.  The  letters  speak  with 
enthusiasm  of  the  Catskill  Mountains  and  of  Niagara. 
From  Montreal  he  returned  by  Lake  Champlain  and  the 
Hudson  steamer.  Before  railways  made  us  so  eager  for 
speed,  the  great  river-steamers  probably  afforded  the  most 
delightful  mode  of  travel  ever  known  on  earth. 

Mr.  Boyce's  Senior  year  (1846-1847)  demanded  closer 
work  than  he  had  ever  before  known.  The  Senior  class  gave 
some  time  to  Plato,  and  studied  astronomy  and  geology, 
continuing  also  the  modern  history,  but  devoted  its  prin- 
cipal attention  to  intellectual  and  moral  philosophy,  with 
Christian  Evidences  and  Butler's  "  Analogy,"  and  to  rhetoric 
and  political  economy,  and  the  American  Constitution. 
In  this  year  he  was  brought  constantly  in  contact  with  Dr. 
Way  land,  and  received  from  him  those  lasting  and  power- 
ful impressions  which  have  been  already  mentioned. 
With  subjects  so  congenial  and  a  teacher  of  such  power  he 
was  stimulated  to  great  exertions.  He  also  took  a  very 
large  share  in  the  religious  interest  which  had  come  over 


48  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

from  the  former  session,  and  was  now  deepening.  He 
taught  a  Sunday-school  class  with  regularity,  and  found 
time  for  a  good  deal  of  devotional  reading,  as  appears  from 
the  books  recommended  in  his  letters. 

Besides  the  correspondence  wdth  Mr.  Tupper,  he  cor- 
responded with  Miss  Mendenhall,  of  Charleston  (now  Mrs. 
Scott),  a  friend  of  the  family,  and  whose  brother  James 
was  his  fellow-student  and  room-mate ;  and  he  was  of  course 
much  interested  in  the  accounts  she  gave  of  all  that  was 
going  on  in  the  city  he  loved  so  well.  One  of  his  letters 
has  been  preserved,  written  Dec.  11,  1846,  when  James 
Mendenhall  had  returned  home  for  a  time  on  account  of 
some  trouble  with  his  eyes.  She  had  informed  Boj^ce  of  a 
visit  to  Charleston  by  two  3'oung  ladies.  So  he  overflows 
with  gratitude  at  the  outset :  — 

*'I  can  hardly  express  the  pleasure  I  experienced  at  receiving 
your  letter.  The  fondest  h()}>es  I  had  dared  to  entertain  were  that 
Jimmy  would  now  and  then  fiivor  me  with  a  paper.  But  when 
in  the  place  of  a  paper  there  comes  a  letter  full  of  news,  and  every- 
thing pleasing,  you  cannot  imagine  my  pleasure.     You  write  me 

that is  in  Charleston,  and  also .     This  is  news ;  I  had  not 

heard  of  it  before.  Pray  remember  me  to  my  old  sweetheart,  and 
tell  her  I  regret  that  T  am  not  now  at  home,  that  I  might  do  the 

honors  of  the  house.     I  suppose is  as  lively  as  ever.     I  often 

look  back  upon  the  pleasant  days  I  have  spent  in  her  company, — 
days  which  will  never  be  forgotten  so  long  as  I  have  the  power  of 
memory,  or  of  experiencing  pleasure  in  the  events  it  brings  to 

mind.     Do  remember  me  to ;  tell  her  I  often  think  of  her, 

and  that  it  is  by  no  means  seldom  that  my  prayers  ascend  to  God 
for  his  blessings  upon  her  and  hers." 

He  then  sends  an  imploring  and  vehement  entreaty  that 
she  will  use  all  possible  influence  for  the  salvation  of  one 
of  his  near  relatives,  and  ends  the  paragraph  by  saying : 

''  Dear ,  God  bless  her  !     She  has  ever  remhided  me  of  my 

mother.  May  she  be  as  faithful  a  Christian,  and  be  preserved  to 
eternity ! 


AT  BUOWN   UNIVERSITY.  49 

"  Another  term  has  closed,  aud  the  Senior  class  now  rest  upon 
their  well-earned  laurels.  Not  a  single  man  has  beeu  unsustaiued 
in  a  single  study.  During  the  whole  of  yesterday  a  blaze  of 
glory  surrounded  as  with  a  halo  the  members  of  our  venerable 
class.  Symptoms  of  gratification  ever  and  anon  broke  forth  from 
the  examining  committee  and  strangers  present  while  we  pro- 
ceeded in  stately  dignity  to  enlighten  their  ideas,  and  teach  their 
withering  minds  to  blossom  with  new  vigor.  Tell  Jimmy,  would 
for  his  sake  I  could  say  the  same  for  the  Juniors!  With  their 
usual  luck,  they  came  out  with  two  unsustaiued,  both  in  rhetoric. 
All  the  Sophs  and  all  the  Freshmen  were  susfained. 

**  The  students  are  mostly  all  gone.  A  few  of  us  retain  our 
rooms  during  the  vacation.  This  morning  I  laid  out  as  the  busi- 
ness of  the  day  the  mending  of  my  carpet-^  (no  small  job,  I  assure 
you,  and  so  can  Jimmy)  and  the  writing  of  two  letters,  —  this 
for  the  morning,  aud  the  arranging  of  my  books  for  the  afternoon. 
All  this,  I  am  happy  to  say,  will  be  accomplished.  Tell  Jimmy 
that  I  am  going  to  board  at  the  eating-houses.  However,  to-day 
we  will  have  a  private  dinner,  —  that  is,  Mabbitt  and  I  will  ; 
Mabbitt  is  cook,  and  I  am  to  help  him  eat. 

"  We  had  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  last  night,  and  the  snow  now 
lies  some  ten  or  twelve  inches  deep.  This  afternoon  and  to-mor- 
row we  shall  have  fine  sleighing.  Don't  you  wish  you  were 
here  ? 

"  I  expect  to  study  pretty  hard  this  vacation.  I  have  laid  out 
about  three  or  four  tliousand  pages  to  read.  First  there  is  Plato; 
then  Mill's  Logic ;    then  the  Republic  of  Letters  ;  while  on  the 

1  His  skill  with  the  needle  was  well  known  to  his  friends.  When 
a  small  boy  he  went  to  a  dame's  school  and  learned  to  sew,  becoming  soon 
so  proficient  as  to  make  a  complete  outfit  for  liis  little  sister's  doll.  In 
after  years  he  would  tell  his  children  of  this  with  great  glee,  explaining 
that  he  made  "  leg  of  mutton  "  sleeves  for  the  doll  in  imitation  of  what' 
he  saw  worn  by  the  young  ladies.  Once,  when  he  was  President  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  a  brother  had  the  misfortune  to  tear  his 
pantaloons;  and  various  gentlemen,  dropping  in  at  the  President's  room 
in  the  hotel,  were  much  amused  to  find  him  mending  the  rent.  The 
owner  —  whose  name  has  not  been  kept  in  memory  —  differed  with  Dr. 
Boyce  on  some  theological  points  ;  and  upon  warmly  thanking  him, 

received  the   good-humored  reply,    "Ah,    Brother ,  I   only  wish 

I  could  mend  your  theology  as  easily." 

4 


50  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

moral  and  religious  side  come  Wayland's  Discourses,  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  interspersed  with 
other  books  occasionally.     So  you  see  I  have  my  hands  full." 

He  proceeds  to  narrate  at  length  how  two  students  had 
been  recently  expelled,  and  then  taken  back.  One  of 
these,  w  ho  became  a  famous  Baptist  minister,  was  expelled 
for  lecturing  on  temperance  during  study  hours.  The 
other  was  expelled  for  striking  a  student  during  the  rush 
for  library  books.  By  the  intercession  of  one  of  the  i>vo- 
fessors,  both  were  restored.  It  is  evident  that  the  young 
Southerner  relates  with  considerable  gusto  the  circum- 
stances of  this  personal  rencontre ;  but  it  has  to  be  admitted 
that  the  parties  concerned  were  both  from  New  England. 
The  letter  ends :  — 

'*  I  suppose  ere  I  receive  your  answer,  Christmas,  with  its 
eventful  times,  will  have  passed.  Would  that  I  were  home  on 
that  day !  " 

Even  in  this  lively  letter  of  the  gay  young  student  to 
a  lady  friend  we  see  that  his  religious  earnestness  shows 
itself.  In  letters  to  Mr.  Tupper,  during  the  early  part  of 
1847,  he  is  full  of  devout  fervor,  and  longing  for  the  sal- 
vation of  friends,  both  in  college  and  at  home.  On  March 
5  he  says  that  for  five  or  six  weeks  he  has  been  greatly 
occupied  and  deeply  impressed.  A  revival  has  now  begun 
in  the  college,  and  there  are  three  converts,  including  two 
of  his  special  friends.  '^  Everything  seems  to  indicate  a 
,great  work  about  to  be  accomplished."  Near  the  close  of 
the  spring  term  he  tells  that  the  revival  has  made  a  great 
change  in  the  moral  tone  of  the  college,  putting  an  end  to 
profanity  and  other  forms  of  irreverence. 

**  There  was  not  a  particle  of  excitement.  Not  a  single  man, 
as  far  as  my  knowledge  extended,  seems  to  have  been  converted 
under  excitement.  Many,  T  know,  took  works  on  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity,  and,  reading  with  a  determination  to  learn  the  truth, 


AT  BROWN   UNIVERSITY  61 

were  convicted  of  their  sins,  and  taught  to  cry  out,  '  What  shall 
I  do  to  be  saved  ? '  Several,  myself  among  the  number,  who  had 
unconverted  room-mates,  have  been  gratified  by  seeing  them 
turn  to  the  Saviour.  Two  or  three  who  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  doctiiues  of  Universalism  were  convinced  that  these  were  un- 
scriptural  and  absurd,  and  taught  to  look  to  Jesus  as  the  author 
and  finisher  of  our  faith.  Nor  do  we  expect  it  to  end  here  ;  we 
are  determined,  with  the  aid  of  God's  Spirit,  to  continue  this  worlv 
during  the  next  term,  and  not  to  rest  until  not  a  soul  can  be  found 
here  who  has  not  felt  and  known  the  pardoning  grace  of  God. 
Many  of  those  who  have  recently  become  converted  will  labor 
among  their  impenitent  friends  at  home,  and  return,  we  trust, 
strengthened  in  the  faith  of  Je^us  Christ.  Never  have  I  felt  until 
this  revival  what  a  blessed  privilege  it  is  to  save  a  soul.  May 
my  prayer  evermore  be  to  God  that  he  may  make  me  instrumental 
in  his  hands  in  the  salvation  of  many  !  It  is  indeed  a  glorious  and 
blessed  privilege  to  labor  in  the  vineyard  of  my  Master." 

Dr.  Guild  tells  us  that  the  revival  went  on  throughout 
the  session,  with  much  earnest  praj^er  and  effort  on  the 
part  of  devout  students,  and  constantly  fostered  by  the 
conversations  and  discourses  of  President  \Yayland.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  Bojxe's  Senior  year  the  converts  included 
George  P.  Fisher,  James  B.  Angell,  H.  L.  Wayland, 
Rowland  Hazard,  and  in  all  twenty-seven  of  the  students. 
Probably  few  people  consider  how  much  a  revival  at  a  col- 
lege may  amount  to.  Among  these  quiet  but  bright-eyed 
young  men  there  are  almost  sure  to  be  some  who  will  be  a 
great  power  in  the  land.  Not  onl}^  on  set  days,  but  often, 
in  public  and  in  private,  ought  Christians  to  pray  for 
those  who  teach  and  those  who  learn  in  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, in  theological  seminaries,  and  all  educational 
institutions. 

The  spring  vacation  (1847)  w^as  spent  by  Mr.  Boj'ce  as 
the  guest  of  his  room-mate,  Adin  B.  Underwood  (after- 
wards General  Underwood),  at  IVIilford,  Mass.  Writing 
to  Mr.  Tupper  from  Milford,  on  April  17,  he  refers  to 
the  approaching  Commencement,  saying  that  the  Senior 


52  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

class  is  reputed  the  very  best  that  has  ever  graduated 
at  Brown,  and  speaking  of  a  subject  for  the  Commence- 
ment address,  of  which  he  has  been  thinking.  In  a 
postscript  to  this  letter  comes  an  important  statement, 
for  which  an  extract  from  a  former  letter  has  pre- 
pared us :  ' '  I  believe  I  have  never  told  you  my  inten- 
tion to  study  for  the  ministry.  I  will  tell  you  all 
about  it  another  time."  Two  weeks  later  he  writes: 
'*As  to  my  profession,  I  think  at  present  that  I  shall 
study  for  the  ministry.  That  seems  to  me  the  only  sub- 
ject in  which  I  could  have  any  interest;  and  it  seems  to 
me  a  tlieme  so  glorious,  and  one  so  much  needed  by  man- 
kind, that  I  should  love  to  proclaim  it."  In  June  we  find 
that  he  has  written  to  his  father  about  his  desire  to  be  a 
minister,  and  to  study  at  some  theological  school.  His 
father  suggested  that  he  should  wait  till  he  comes  home. 
He  is  now  hesitating  whether  first  to  spend  a  year  in  gen- 
eral reading  (as  a  resident  graduate  at  Brown,  or  at  home 
in  Charleston),  or  to  go  next  fall  to  a  theological  seminary. 
August  2  he  writes  from  New  York  that  he  has  been  sick 
some  days,  and  is  barely  able  to  sit  up.  He  was  doubt- 
less broken  down  by  the  hard  study  of  the  session,  accom- 
panied by  intense  religious  zeal  and  effort.  Later  we 
learn  that  his  grade  was  seven  (in  a  class  of  thirty-four) ; 
he  had  hoped  to  be  fifth.  The  Commencement  would 
occur  in  September,  and  his  graduating  address  was  to  be 
on  "International  Charity,  a  New  Thing  in  the  Civiliza- 
tion of  the  World." 

When  Boyce  returned  home  after  being  graduated  at 
Brown  in  September,  1847,  it  became  increasingly  mani- 
fest to  those  who  knew  him  well,  not  only  that  he  was 
thoroughly  earnest  in  the  religious  life,  but  that  he  was 
developing  great  intellectual  power.  His  mind  was  full 
of  questions  which  he  was  anxious  to  have  solved.  On 
one  occasion,  in  company  wath  Allen  Tupper,  he  ap- 
proached a   distinguished  divine  at  Charleston,   and  im- 


AT  BROWN  UNIVERSITY.  53 

mediately  after  the  exchange  of  salutations  the  minister 
said,  ''I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  James;  but  please  do 
not  ask  me  any  hard  questions."  He  was  equally  j)leased 
to  have  hard  questions  asked  him.  He  delighted  to  un- 
ravel any  knotty  matter,  whether  a  conundrum,  a  philo- 
sophic paradox,  or  a  social  difficulty.  He  would  be  merry 
in  positions  wherein  others  were  perplexed.  His  father, 
as  we  are  told,  was  now  very  proud  of  James,  and  expected 
him  to  become  a  man  of  distinction.  The  young  man,  for 
his  part,  was  burning  with  ambition  for  profound  scholar- 
ship and  the  widest  possible  mastery  of  knowledge.  One 
indication  of  this  was  in  the  character  as  well  as  number 
of  the  books  he  began  at  once  to  procure,  at  large  cost. 
He  was  laying  a  broad  foundation  for  life-long  acquisition. 
While  circumstances,  during  the  greater  part  of  his  sub- 
sequent life,  largely  denied  him  the  benefit  of  studious 
quiet,  he  did  become  a  very  remarkable  combination  of 
scholar  and  business  man,  such  as  one  rarely  sees.  But 
his  youthful  ambition  for  vast  attainments  and  profound 
scholarship  was  sadly  hindered  and  thwarted  throughout 
his  busy  years;  and  those  who  loved  him  best  will  appre- 
ciate the  statement  of  Dr.  Tupper,  made  from  personal 
knowledge,  that  Boyce  regarded  this  as  the  greatest 
sacrifice  he  made  for  the  theological  seminary. 

It  was  a  sad  disappointment  to  Mr.  Ker  Boyce  when 
he  found,  during  the  summer  and  autumn,  that  James  was 
immovably  resolved  to  be  a  minister.  Besides  a  natural 
ambition  that  his  son  might  become  distinguished  as  a 
lawyer,  and  perhaps  as  a  statesman,  — for  both  of  wh.ich 
pursuits  the  father's  insight  discerned  in  him  peculiar 
qualifications,  — he  began  already  to  hope,  as  we  have 
heretofore  observed,  that  James  would  be  the  man  to  take 
charge  of  his  large  estate,  and  carry  on  his  great  business 
undertakings,  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  family-.  While 
a  strictly  moral  man,  and  a  generous  supporter  of  the 
church  he  attended,  the  father  had  no  great  sympathy  with 


54  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

the  claims  of  the  ministry;  and,  as  in  many  other  such 
cases,  it  was  hard  for  him  to  acquiesce  in  the  youth's  de- 
termination to  ^Hhrow  a^Yay"  all  his  practical  powers  and 
possibilities  upon  the  work  of  a  minister.  There  were  of 
course  others  who  took  a  similar  view.  His  namesake  Mr. 
Petigru  said,  '^What  a  lawyer  he  would  have  made!'' 
We  hear  of  an  old  merchant  in  Charleston,  one  of  his 
father's  partners  in  the  dry-goods  house,  who,  being  told 
that  Jimmy  Boyce  meant  to  be  a  parson,  said,  ^' Well, 
well,  why  don't  he  follow  some  useful  occupation  ?  If  he 
would  onl}^  have  stuck  to  business,  he  would  have  made 
one  of  the  best  merchants  in  the  country."  Young  men 
of  no  remarkable  talents  or  worldly  advantages  often  have 
to  pass  through  similar  opposition  and  reproach  in  enter- 
ing upon  the  ministry  of  the  gospel.  A  surviving  sister 
testifies  that  their  father  was  already  proud  of  James's 
talents,  and  became  so  more  and  more ;  and  we  shall  find 
him  gladly  affording  every  possible  advantage  for  the 
prosecution  of  ministerial  studies. 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1847,  H.  Allen  Tupper  and 
James  P.  Boj^ce  were  licensed  to  preach  by  the  church  in 
Charleston.  Two  weeks  earlier,  Boyce  had  written  to  his 
friend  from  Aiken,  the  summer  home  of  the  famil}',  where 
he  was  teaching  his  young  brother  Kerr,  preparing  him 
for  boarding-school.  In  this  letter  he  greatly  laments  his 
decay  of  spirituality.  When  he  offers  a  prayer,  it  *'  often 
seems  to  be  the  discord  of  the  lips,  and  not  the  music  of 
the  heart."  A  fortnight  after  the  licensing  he  writes 
again,  "  Bejoice  with  me,  for  my  joy  now  is  not  exceeded 
by  that  which  I  felt  when  I  first  entered  on  Christ's  de- 
lightful service."  Such  changes  of  feeling  are  neither  rare 
nor  strange.  He  was  already  beginning  to  preach  on 
Sundays,  and  writing  some  articles  for  the  South  Carolina 
Baptist. 


MARRIAGE   AND   EDITORIAL   WORK. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MARRIAGE    AND    EDITORIAL   WORK. 

AMOXG  James  Boyce's  classmates  at  Brown  Univer- 
sity, and  for  a  while  his  room-mate,  was  Milton 
G.  Eobert,  of  Eobertville,  S.  C,  belonging  to  a  family 
which  has  produced  several  distinguished  Baptists.  In 
visiting  his  brother,  Eev.  L.  J.  Eobert,  pastor  at  AYash- 
ington,  Ga.,  this  young  man  made  a  marriage  engagement 
with  Miss  Colby,  of  that  place,  and  he  still  lives  in 
the  vicinity.  After  their  graduation  he  took  James  P. 
Boyce  with  him  to  Washington,  as  one  of  the  "waiters" 
at  the  wedding,  Dec.  9,  1847.  One  of  the  bride's  attend- 
ants, though  not  his  partner,  was  Miss  Lizzie  Llewellyn 
Ficklen,  daughter  of  Dr.  Fielding  Ficklen,  of  that  village. 
It  is  related  by  a  resident  that  the  young  man  became 
quite  enamoured  that  evening.  The  next  day,  when  the 
wedding  party  were  going  into  the  country  to  dine,  he  was 
reproached  by  the  bridegroom  for  asking  to  accompany 
Miss  Ficklen  instead  of  his  partner.  Things  went  so  fast 
with  his  feelings  that  in  returning  from  the  country  din- 
ner he  asked  her  to  marry  him,  but  without  success.  In 
fact,  it  cost  the  ardent  j^outh  several  months  of  repeated 
visits,  to  say  nothing  of  numerous  letters,  before  he  could 
gain  any  promise  of  marriage. 

Dr.  Ficklen  had  come  from  Virginia,  where  his  brother, 
George  Ficklen,  was  an  eminent  citizen  and  leading  Bap- 
tist of  the  famous  Gourd  Vine  Church,  in  Culpeper  County, 
and  another  brother,  Burwell  Ficklen,  was  an  honored 
citizen  of  Fredericksburg;  while  the  family  connection  in- 
cludes a  number  of  well-known  men  in  different  parts  of 


56  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

that  State.  The  Ficklens  were  of  Welsh  origin,  and  one 
fancies  that  they  exhibit  some  of  the  better  Celtic  traits 
of  character.  Dr.  Ficklen's  wife  was  Miss  Frances  Ann 
Wingfield,  whose  grandfather  came  from  Albemarle 
County,  Va.,  the  name  showing  an  English  family. 
The  doctor  did  not  give  his  whole  attention  to  the  practice 
of  medicine  in  Washington,  but  turned  more  and  more 
towards  planting,  in  which  he  was  quite  successful.  In 
middle  life  he  became  a  Christian,  and  afterwards  a 
greatly  honored  deacon  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Washing- 
ton,—  a  man  of  frank  and  manly  bearing,  "  transparent  can- 
dor, scrupulous  conscientiousness,  and  Christian  probity," 
and  notably  strict  in  his  ideas  of  Christian  life  and  of 
church  discipline.  Miss  Lizzie  had  been  educated  in  a 
very  remarkable  school  at  Washington,  which  had  been 
built  up  especially  through  the  efforts  of  Adam  Alexander 
(father  of  the  Confederate  general,  now  railroad  presi- 
dent), whose  numerous  daughters,  there  educated,  became 
the  wives  of  distinguished  men  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina.  The  lady  principal  at  the  time  when  Lizzie  was 
educated  was  Miss  Bracket,  who  had  come  from  the 
North,  and  afterwards  married  Dr.  Nehemiah  Adams,  a 
well-known  Congregational  minister  of  Boston. 

Washington  is  a  pleasant  village  in  Northeastern 
Georgia,  eighteen  miles  north  of  the  Georgia  Railroad,  and 
not  far  from  the  South  Carolina  line.  It  is  the  centre  of 
a  rolling  and  healthy  country,  which  the  AVingfields  com- 
pared to  Albemarle,  very  fertile  in  grain  and  cotton. 
Here  the  famous  Jesse  Mercer  was  the  first  Baptist  pas- 
tor, and  started  here,  in  1833,  '^The  Christian  Index," 
which  is  still  the  Baptist  paper  of  Georgia.  Here  lived 
the  celebrated  Senator  Kobert  Toombs,  and  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  went  to  school  here,  —  in  a  square  wooden  build- 
ing which  still  stands,  — but  made  the  home  of  his  life  at 
Crawfordsville,  in  an  adjoining  county.  Thus  the  village 
and  surrounding  country  presented  good  society  as  well  as 


MAKRIAGE   AND   EDITORIAL   WDRK.  57 

good  schools.  To  these  advantages  of  family  and  educa- 
tion were  added  rare  personal  attractions,  great  kindness 
of  heart,  and  extraordinary  brilliancy  in  conversation;  so 
that  our  young  collegian,  with  all  his  ardor,  may  be  de- 
fended as  not  having  lost  his  head  when  he  so  quickly 
lost  his  heart. 

We  cannot  venture  to  quote  the  letters  written  to 
his  friend  and  future  brother-in  law  during  the  next 
few  months.  On  one  occasion  whole  pages  are  filled 
with  outpourings  of  a  lover's  wretchedness  when  rejected, 
but  winding  up  with  the  steadfast  purpose  to  try  again. 
A  loving  sister  brings  to  bear  upon  the  case  a  certain 
feminine  clairvoyance,  and  comforts  him  with  the  hope 
that  he  maj^  succeed  at  last.  Then  the  correspondence 
fails  us,  as  a  well-behaved  correspondence  should  do;  but 
in  May  we  learn,  from  an  allusion  to  plans  for  the  future, 
that  an  understanding  has  been  reached,  and  definite 
hopes  are  permitted. 

In  April,  1848,  Mr.  Boyce  and  Mr.  Tupper  went  to 
New  York,  on  their  way  to  Madison  University,  at  Ham- 
ilton, N.  Y., —  now  called  Colgate  Universit}'^,  —  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  the  theological  department.  After 
arriving  in  New  York  city,  they  heard  from  Dr.  T.  J. 
Conant,  then  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Hamilton,  that  three 
months  of  Hebrew  had  to  be  made  up  in  about  three 
weeks,  in  order  to  enter  the  theological  course  at  the 
point  they  desired.  Mr.  Tupper  accomplished  this,  and 
went  through  the  course  at  Hamilton.  Mr.  Boyce  found 
his  eyes  so  weak  and  suffering  at  the  time  that  it  was 
evidentl}^  unwise  to  attempt  the  Hebrew.  On  April  28 
he  wrote  from  New  York  to  his  friend  at  Hamilton  a  very 
sad  letter.  The  celebrated  Dr.  Delafield  had  ordered  that 
he  should  stop  study  for  a  year,  and  advised  that  he 
should  abandon  altogether  the  idea  of  a  studious  life. 
^'I  shall  therefore  adopt  the  latter  advice.  I  regret 
much  that  we    cannot   pursue    our  studies  together,   but 


58  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

more  that  I  am  compelled  to  give  up  that  profession 
towards  whicli  I  have  so  long  looked.  I  shall  return 
to-morrow  week  to  Charleston."  A  week  later  he  writes 
again  that  he  is  not  going  to  give  up  the  study  for  the 
ministry.  The  physician  thinks  that  by  leading  a  very 
active  life  during  the  summer,  together  with  certain  med- 
ical treatment,  he  may  recover  the  use  of  his  eyes  for 
study.  The  doctor  has  said  that  a  trip  to  Europe  would 
of  itself  be  sufficient  to  cure  him.  But  he  shrinks  from 
making  this  journey  without  a  certain  companionship,  on 
which  he  may  not  count. 

We  learn  from  others  that  his  return  voyage  to  Charles- 
ton was  protracted  by  bad  weather;  and  through  the  con- 
sequent nautical  experiences  he  was  relieved  of  extreme 
biliousness,  and  this  contributed  to  the  cure  of  his  eyes. 
Throughout  the  summer  he  found  it  necessary  to  be  care- 
ful, but  his  eyes  finally  recovered  strength.  He  often 
suffered  through  life  from  severe  bilious  attacks,  but  we 
never  again  hear  of  any  trouble  with  the  eyes,  though  he 
read  so  widely,  at  all  hours,  on  railwaj^  trains  and  every- 
where. A  like  trouble  from  study  at  college  led  Richard 
H.  D^na,  Jr.,  to  a  voyage  to  California  in  1834-1836, 
described  in  his  famous  book,  ''Two  Years  before  the 
Mast;  "  and  the  biographer  states  that  he  also  never 
afterwards  suffered  from  weak  eyes. 

In  the  autumn  we  find  Mr.  Boyce  in  much  better  health, 
and  preaching  with  great  zeal  at  Aiken,  at  Washington, 
Ga.,  and  other  points,  and  at  length  undertaking  impor- 
tant duties  in  Charleston,  to  which  we  shall  presently 
give  attention.  The  marriage  occurred  at  Washington, 
Dec.  20,  1848,  and  the  young  couple  went  at  once  to  live 
in  Charleston.  But  he  delighted  in  visiting  the  pleasant 
village  where  he  had  found  his  wife,  and  easily  made 
himself  a  place  in  the  family  circle.  Some  time  after  her 
marriage  the  bride  told  his  sister,  in  her  sportive  way, 
that  her  mother  always  took  sides  with  James  rather  than 


MARRIAGE   AND  EDITORIAL   WORK.  59 

with  her.  So  glad  he  was  to  have  a  mother  again!  In 
one  of  the  subsequent  visits,  it  is  stated  by  Capt.  J.  T. 
Wingfield,  Mrs.  Boyce's  cousin,  that  the  young  minister 
preached,  at  the  time  when  he  was  ordained  deacon,  a  ser- 
mon an  hour  and  a  half  long,  which  the  captain  quaintly 
declares  to  have  been  ''the  shortest  long  sermon"  he 
ever  heard.  Some  years  later,  Mr.  Boyce's  brother-in- 
law,  Eev.  H.  A.  Tupper,  became  pastor  at  Washington, 
and  remained  there  nearly  twenty  years,  taking  great 
delight  in  his  charge,  and  resisting  many  invitations  to 
go  elsewhere.^ 

.  1  The  following  was  published  not  long  ago  in  the  "Washington 
[Ga.]  Gazette  :  "  — 

"  GENERAL  LAWTON    AND    WASHINGTON. 

"The  unforeseen  consequences  of  our  actions  are  often  the  subject 
of  comment.  On  a  November  day  of  1845,  Gen.  A.  R.  Lawton  came 
to  Washington  on  a  very  interesting  occasion  ;  nameh%  to  be  married. 
He  doubtless  felt  very  pleasantly  disposed  to  the  little  up-country  town 
in  W'hich  he  found  his  wife.  On  one  of  his  trips  he  was  accompanied 
by  a  bachelor  friend,  Mr.  Milton  Robert,  who  fell  in  love  with  another 
Washington  girl,  and  married  her.  There  came  to  this  weddin^  another 
bachelor,  Rev.  James  P.  Boyce.  He,  too,  married  a  Washington  girl. 
From  these  two  marriages  Washington  has  derived  many  advantages 
besides  the  blessing  of  good  husbands  to  her  daughters.  The  children 
and  grandchildren  sprung  from  them  form  a  large  circle  of  excellent 
and  desirable  citizens.  But  this  was  not  all  the  good  derived  from 
General  Lawton  to  Washington.  In  consequence  of  the  marriage  of 
Rev.  James  P.  Boyce,  Dr.  Tapper,  who  married  his  sister,  was  invited 
here.  The  good  Dr.  Tupper  did  is  untold.  His  influence  on  religion, 
and  his  thousand  kindnesses,  will  never  be  forgotten  while  a  single 
person  remains  who  knew  him.  Now,  General  Lawton,  though  not  the 
cause,  was  certainly  the  occasion,  of  all  this  good  to  Washington.  .  .  . 
This  is  a  good  deal  to  owe  to  General  Lawton  ;  and  running  it  up,  it 
seems  as  if  we  ought  to  present  the  general  with  a  silver  service.  But 
it  occurred  to  us  just  here  that  General  Lawton  owes  a  good  deal  to 
Washington,  for  the  town  furnished  Mrs.  Lawton.  In  detailing  all 
this  to  the  general,  we  asked  him,  did  he  not  think  he  and  Washington 
were  even?     'Yes,'  he  said,    'more  than  even.      I  owe  Washinstou 


60  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

In  May,  1846,  there  had  appeared  in  Charleston  ^'The 
Southern  Baptist, ''  a  weekly  paper  which  was  contin- 
ued till  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  Secession.  For  more 
than  two  years  it  was  ''  edited  by  a  committee  of  brethren 
of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Charleston."  The  pastors 
of  the  First  Baptist  Clnirch  at  that  period  were  the 
famous  Georgian,  Dr.  N.  ]\L  Crawford,  from  1845  to  1847, 
and  from  1847  to  1854  Dr.  J.  R.  Kendrick,  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Baptist  family  in  New  York  State.  No  doubt 
each  of  these  took  an  active  part  in  the  editing,  and  they 
were  aided  by  James  Tupper,  Esq.,  a  leading  lawyer  and 
Baptist,  and  others  whose  names  are  not  known.  On 
Nov.  22,  1848,  the  heading  reads,  *<  James  P.  Boyce, 
Editor."  A  notice  of  the  change,  signed  ''The  late 
Editors, ' '  says :  ' '  Mr.  Bo3'ce  is  a  graduate  of  Brown 
University,  a  licentiate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Charleston,  and  possesses  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
whicli  give  promise  of  distinction  and  usefulness  in  the 
new  field  of  labor  he  has  entered."  The  new  editor's 
salutatory  mentions  that  the  paper  has  been  going  into 
three  thousand  families,  thinks  that  in  excellence  *'  it 
has  been  surpassed  by  none  of  our  Southern  Baptist 
papers,"  and  very  earnestly  asks  for  increased  patronage 
and  continued  contributions.  In  fact,  their  high  stand- 
ard of  intelligence  and  taste  had  caused  the  brethren  to 
make  a  better  paper  than  could  at  that  time  be  supported 
in  a  comparatively  small  State,  where  the  great  mass  of 
the  Baptists  were  in  the  middle  and  up  country,  —  and 
railroads  did  not  then  extend  above  Columbia. 

The  young  editor  threw  himself  earnestly  into  the  under- 
taking, and  produced  a  paper  of  real  value.  To  a  much 
greater  extent  than  was  then  common  in  religious  week- 
lies,  it   is   seen  to  have  given  copious  and  well-collated 

boot, — ^  large  boot.'  And  come  to  think  of  it,  it  was  in  fact  Mrs. 
Lawton  who  brought  the  general  here,  and  set  the  ball  rolling  in  the 
first  instance." 


MARRIAGE   AND   EDITORIAL   WORK.  Gl 

7iews,  foreign  and  domestic,  secular  as  well  as  religious. 
There  are  many  notices  of  books  and  periodicals,  with 
special  interest  in  the  four  British  Quarterlies,  and  ''  Bhick- 
wood's  ^Magazine,"  which  were  republislied  in  this  country 
by  Leonard  Scott  &  Co.,  and  at  that  day  represented  the 
very  cream  of  good  reading.  Many  a  young  man  of  that 
period  can  remember  the  instruction  and  inspiration  de- 
rived from  these  great  British  periodicals,  iiemarkable 
space  is  given  in  the  paper  to  foreign  missions,  those  of 
the  Missionary  Union  in  Boston,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  organized  three  j^ears  before. 
Xo  opportunity  is  missed  for  commending  institutions  of 
learning,  or  discussing  questions  of  education.  The  edi- 
tor's writing  consisted  largely  in  brief  paragraphs,  such  as 
have  now  become  common  in  the  best  papers.  Among  the 
leading  editorials,  such  general  topics  as  ''Purity  of 
Heart,''  ''Faith  an  Antidote  to  Trouble,"  "The  Blessed- 
ness  of  Affliction,'' are  discussed  in  a  readable  and  help- 
ful fashion.  Under  the  head  of  "State  Schools  and 
Teachers,"  great  earnestness  is  shown  in  urging  improve- 
ment of  public  instruction.  Under  "Southern  Baptist 
Literature,"  it  is  said:  "We  trust  the  day  is  not  distant 
when  Southern  Baptists  will  be  extensive  producers  as 
well  as  consumers  of  religious  reading."  Under  "Mis- 
sions among  the  Southern  Slaves  " :  "iSTo  planter,  we  con- 
tend, should  rest  satisfied  until  he  has  taken  measures 
either  to  provide  a  religious  instructor  for  his  negroes,  or 
to  instruct  them  himself;  "  and  favorable  mention  is  made 
afterwards  of  the  way  in  which  this  was  managed  by  B.  C. 
Pressley,  Esq.  (now  Judge  Pressley),  on  his  plantation. 
An  editorial  in  the  first  number  for  1849  refers  quite 
impressively  to  the  European  revolutions  of  the  preceding 
year.  On  March  28,  1849,  a  leader  of  unusual  length 
favored  the  establishment  of  a  "Central  Theological  Insti- 
tution "  for  all  Baptists  of  the  South,  —  a  subject  which 
had   been  broaclied  two  or  three  years    before,    and   with 


62  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

which  this  Memoir  must  largely  concern  itself  in  later 
chapters. 

Meantime,  on  March  7,  Rev.  A.  M.  Poiudexter,  who 
had  the  previous  summer  come  from  Virginia  to  Charleston 
to  be  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  new  Southern  Baptist 
Publication  Societ}^,  gave  the  following  notice  in  the 
paper:  "The  Depository  of  the  S.  B.  P.  S.  has  been 
removed  to  40,  Broad  Street,  and  Eev.  James  P.  Boyce 
has  been  appointed  Depository  Agent.''  From  that  time 
the  advertising  columns  contain  long  lists  of  religious 
books  as  kept  for  sale  at  the  depository,  with  his  name  as 
agent.  The  editor  and  incipient  theologian  found  great 
delight  in  the  intimate  friendship  thus  begun  with  Dr. 
Poindexter,  one  of  the  strongest  theological  thinkers  in 
the  country,  and  destined  to  a  highly  influential  co-opera- 
tion with  him  in  the  future  establishment  of  the  theolog- 
ical school.  His  own  penchant  for  theology,  even  at  this 
early  period,  appears  in  his  allowing  the  paper  to  be  for 
many  weeks  weighted  down  by  two  distinguished  brethren 
with  long  and  elaborate  articles  on  the  doctrine  of  "Im- 
putation," in  which  comparatively  few  of  the  readers  could 
be  expected  to  take  much  interest. 

On  April  11  the  editor  in  three  several  instances 
defends  himself  against  personal  attack.  The  "Christian 
Index"  had  severely  complained  of  the  "Southern  Bap- 
tist" for  publishing  a  misleading  account  of  action  taken 
b}''  the  trustees  of  Mercer  University  in  regard  to  the 
question  of  a  general  theological  institution,  and  declared 
that  statements  given  in  quotation  marks  were  utterly 
different  from  what  had  been  actually  said  in  the  report 
of  the  trustees.  Mr.  Boyce  replies:  ^^  Strictures  of  the 
^  Christian  Index.''  —  We  regret  very  much  that  errors  such 
as  the  '  Index '  notices  in  the  piece  quoted  below  should 
have  been  found  in  any  article  in  the  'Southern  Baptist.' 
We  copy  the  entire  strictures  of  the  '  Index, '  purposely  to 
manifest  our  regret.     And  yet  we  are  not  to  blame."     He 


MARRIAGE  AND  EDITORIAL   WORK.  63 

goes  on  to  explain  tliat  his  account  of  the  matter  had  been 
derived  from  another  paper,  and  the  quotation-marks  re- 
ferred to  that  paper's  statements.  The  defence  is  ample, 
and  the  opening  expression  of  regret  is  characteristic  of 
a  man  so  frank  and  candid.  It  is  said  that  some  one 
connected  with  the  paper  censured  this  expression,  on  the 
ground  that  a  newspaper  cannot  well  afford  to  admit  that 
it  has  made  a  mistake.  This  idea  does  appear  to  be  enter- 
tained in  some  editorial  offices;  but  one  can  imagine  that 
James  P.  Boj'ce  must  have  been  not  a  little  vexed  at  the 
mere  suggestion.  Following  this  editorial  is  another,  in 
reply  to  the  criticisms  of  a  correspondent.  These  had 
included  an  utter  misstatement  of  something  the  editor 
had  said,  and  he  replied  very  sharply:  ''We  said  no  such 
thing;  and  how  a  man  of  common  sense  and  common  hon- 
esty can  assert  it,  w^e  know  not.  This  may  seem  strong 
language,  but  ...  it  is  enough  to  irritate  any  man  to 
have  his  language  perverted  in  this  way."  A  third  edi- 
torial replies  to  an  anonymous  ''Subscriber"  who  grossly 
misrepresents  the  editor,  and  upon  the  strength  of  this 
misrej^resentation  announces  that  he  will  cease  to  be  a 
subscriber  when  the  time  expires  for  which  he  has  paid. 
The  editor  in  reply  tries  to  be  calm  in  pointing  out 
the  misrepresentation,  but  adds  :  "In  conclusion,  we 
say  to  a  '  Subscriber  '  that  if  he  will  but  forward 
his  name,  it  shall  be  immediately  stricken  from  the 
list.  We  would  not  for  ten  times  the  sum  of  his  sub- 
scription be  again  subjected  to  so  much  impertinence 
and  injustice.'' 

The  number  for  May  2d  ends  the  third  volume  of  the 
paper.  The  editor  calls  attention  to  that  fact,  and  says : 
"  Our  own  connection  with  the  paper  is  to  close  with  the 
present  number.  We  opened  its  editorial  charge  at  the 
solicitation  of  our  brethren,  and  with  no  exj^ectation  of 
retaining  it  beyond  a  few  months.  We  feel  a  deep  interest 
in  the  '  Southern  Baptist,'  and  the  prosperity  of  the  Bap- 


64  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

tists  of  South  Carolina,  and  this  interest  alone  induced  ns 
to  consent  to  occupy  our  present  post."  He  states  that 
the  former  editing  committee  will  resume  their  task,  but 
that  the  paper  is  still  in  debt,  and  the  receipts  not  sufficient 
to  pay  the  expenses;  and  so  he  appeals  for  payment  of 
subscriptions  in  arrear,  and  for  efforts  to  procure  new 
subscribers.  In  resuming  the  editorship,  on  May  9,  the 
committee  state  that  ^'during  five  months  the  paper  has 
been  gratuitously  and  efficiently  edited  by  Rev.  James  P. 
Boyce."  ^  In  the  editorial  that  follows  they  speak  of  the 
fact  that  editors  must  expect  at  times  to  have  "  their  mo- 
tives misapprehended  and  rudely  impugned,  their  honest 
opinions  perverted  and  unkindly  assailed. '^  This  goes  to 
show  that  the  young  editor  had  keenly  felt  the  injustice 
done  him,  especially  by  the  writers  he  had  replied  to  on 
April  11.  He  was  a  man  so  thoroughly  honest,  candid, 
and  just  that  he  felt  surprise  at  first,  and  then  indigna- 
tion, at  any  cases  in  which  the  opposite  qualities  appeared 
to  be  manifested;  and  few  men  of  twenty-two  would  have 
been  quite  patient  under  such  provocation.  Had  he  felt 
bound  by  some  high  sense  of  duty  to  pursue  the  editorial 
career,  he  would  have  learned  to  bear  quietly  such  unjust 
assaults,  even  as  he  afterwards  did  learn  in  other  relations 
that  any  servant  of  the  public  must  expect  to  be  now  and 
then  misrepresented,  and  to  have  some  speech  or  action  of 
his  perverted  and  seized  upon  as  the  occasion  for  exj^loiting 
personal  views.  But  Mr.  Boyce  had  not  at  all  undertaken 
to  make  editing  his  life-work.  The  discussion  of  religious 
topics  would  only  deepen  the  desire  for  regular  theological 
education,  which  he  now  determined  to  seek  at  Princeton 
in  the  autumn.  The  close  of  the  paper's  third  year  was  a 
convenient  time  for  ending  his  connection  with  it,  and 
the  recent  assaults  perhaps  made  him  impatient  to  throw 

1  The  number  of  subscribers  had  increased  while  lie  was  editor,  but 
the  receipts  had  been  five  hundred  dollars  less  than  the  expenses  of 
publication. 


MARRIAGE  AND  EDITORIAL  WORK.  65 

the  task  aside  without  delay.  All  this  may  remind  us 
that  truly  great  and  useful  men  have  seldom  escaped  early 
struggles  with  impatience,  and  have  never  been  without 
strong  feelings  wliich  it  was  difficult  to  control.  A  great 
man  has  an  ardent  nature,  or  he  would  not  be  a  force  in 
the  world.  Those  who  see  men  of  eminence  silently  bear- 
ing undeserved  reproach,  or  explaining  with  quiet  dignit}^, 
frequently  have  little  conception  of  the  discipline  which 
has  been  needed  to  make  this  possible. 

For  one  so  young,  with  little  experience  in  preaching, 
and  no  regular  study  of  theology,  Mr.  Boyce  had  done 
remarkably  well  as  an  editor.  Had  he  thought  proper  to 
continue  in  that  line  of  work,  his  great  administrative 
talent,  w^ide  and  eager  reading,  special  interest  in  the 
practical  enterprises  of  missions  and  education,  and 
rapidity  of  composition,  would  sooner  or  later  have  made 
his  editorial  life  a  marked  success.  Years  afterwards  he 
more  than  once  intimated  that  if  the  Seminary  could  be- 
come fully  established  and  allow  some  leisure,  he  would 
like  to  conduct  a  religious  quarterly  or  monthly. 

Until  the  end  of  July,  1849,  he  continued  to  act  as 
depository  agent  for  the  Publication  Society,  and  some- 
times wrote  for  the  paper  over  his  initials. 

During  the  summer  he  hesitated  whether  to  take  a  theo- 
logical course  at  Hamilton,  where  ]\tr.  Tupper  was,  or  at 
Princeton.  There  was  much  talk  at  the  time  of  removing 
the  theological  school  from  Hamilton  to  Rochester,  and 
he  did  not  fancy  being  there  in  a  time  of  dissolution  and 
reconstruction.  He  inquired  particularly  about  the  extent 
and  value  of  the  library  at  Hamilton,  in  which  respect 
Princeton  then  doubtless  greatly  excelled.  Few  patrons  of 
higher  education  appreciate  the  value  of  a  great  library 
in  attracting  the  more  aspiring  students  and  in  promoting 
breadth  of  culture. 

In  April,  1849,  Mr.  Boyce's  eldest  brother,  John  John- 
ston Boyce,  died  in  Florida.     He  had  married  his  cousin, 

5 


66  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

tlie  daughter  of  Cliancellor  Johnston.  His  father  had 
established  him  on  a  plantation  in  Florida,  with  the  vague 
hope  of  stopping  the  ravages  of  consumption.  An  obituary 
in  the  paper  which  James  was  editing  says  that  he  died 
''in  the  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection.'' 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.         67 


€HAPTER  VI. 


IN  September,  1849,  Mr.  Boyce  went  to  the  Presby- 
terian Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and  re- 
mained there  as  a  student  for  two  years.  This  famous 
seminary  had,  like  all  the  rest,  its  small  beginnings.  It 
was  founded  in  1812,  and  for  one  year  Archibald  Alexander 
was  the  sole  professor.  In  1813  Samuel  Miller  was  added, 
and  in  1822  Charles  Hodge.  By  1849  Princeton  and  An- 
dover  were  the  two  leading  theological  schools  in  America. 
The  whole  number  of  students  during  Mr.  Boyce's  first 
session  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-six,  and  for  the  second 
session  one  hundred  and  forty-seven.  The  division  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  into  Old  School  and  New  School 
was  by  this  time  thoroughly  established,  and  Princeton 
was  recognized  as  the  great  bulwark  of  Old  School 
theology. 

When  our  student  entered,  in  1849,  Dr.  Samuel  Miller 
had  just  been  made  Emeritus  Professor,  and  he  died  in 
January  of  the  next  year.  His  numerous  practical  writ- 
ings on  ecclesiastical  questions  and  ministerial  duties 
must  have  been  quite  in  demand  among  the  students. 
The  author  of  ^'  Clerical  Manners  "  was  somewhat  formal 
in  his  own  deportment,  but  proved  quite  cordial  when 
visited  at  his  home.  The  active  professors  at  this  time 
were  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  his  two  sons,  James  and 
Addison,  and  Dr.  Charles  Hodge. 

Archibald  Alexander  had  in  1840  turned  over  the 
department  of  Didactic  Theology  to  Dr.  Hodge,  and  was 
Professor  of  Pastoral  and  Polemic  Theology.     Though  now 


6S  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

seventy-seven  j^ears  old,  and  taking  but  a  limited  part  in 
the  instruction,  this  gifted  and  charming  man  left  a  last- 
ing impress  upon  his  students,  and  Mr.  Boyce  often  spoke 
of  him  with  gratitude  and  affection.  He  was  a  sort  of 
pastor  for  the  young  men,  with  whom  they  found  counsel 
and  sympathy.^  His  numerous  works  gained  a  wide  circu- 
lation, and  his  "Moral  Science,"  ''Religious  Experience," 
and  ''Sermons  to  the  Aged''  may  still  be  particularly 
commended.  The  memoir  by  his  son  James  is  a  delight- 
ful book.  Dr.  Alexander  excelled  in  the  somewhat  diffi- 
cult matter  of  helpful  criticism  upon  sermons  preached  by 
the  students  before  the  class.  His  general  kindness  and 
sympathetic  appreciation  gave  keener  edge  to  the  caustic 
remarks  which  sometimes  appeared  needful.  Dr.  Boyce 
used  to  relate  that  on  one  occasion  a  student  took  as  his 
text,  "Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  and 
launched  into  a  magnificent  description  of  the  creation  of 
light,  with  great  splendor  of  diction  and  vehemence  of  de- 
livery. The  aged  professor  sat  with  his  chin  on  his  breast, 
quietly  listening  throughout  the  performance,  and  then, 
lifting  his  head,  said,  in  the  j^iping  tones  characteristic  of 
old  age,  "  You're  a  very  smart  young  man,  but  you  can't 
beat  Moses."  A  few  years  earlier,  a  student  of  very  im- 
posing talents  and  bearing,  a  Presbyterian  then,  but  who 
afterwards  became  a  High  Churchman  and  a  bishop, 
made  a  grand  discourse  upon  the  religious  instincts.  He 
represented  that  every  man's  character  and  life  will  depend 
simply  upon  which  of  his  instincts  gets  the  upper  hand, 

1  It  was  probably  at  an  earlier  date  that  we  must  place  a  story  which 
theological  students  might  find  suggestive.  An  old  negro  was  accus- 
tomed to  attend  a  church  some  miles  from  Princeton,  and  often  praised 
the  **high  larnt "  young  preachers  who  came  out  from  the  seminary. 
One  day  he  looked  glum  on  returning  home,  and  being  asked  whether 
he  had  had  a  good  sermon,  said,  "  No,  sir;  no,  sir.  There  did  n't  none  of 
them  high  larnt  young  gentlemen  come  to-day,  but  jes'  a  old  man,  and 
he  stood  up  and  jes'  talked  and  talked."  The  preacher  was  Archibald 
Alexander. 


AT  princp:ton  theological  seminary.      69 

and  everything  human  was  made  to  turn  on  a  battle  of 
instincts.  When  he  finished,  and  the  time  came  for 
critical  remarks  by  the  students,  they  seemed  afraid  to 
venture,  and  were  silent.  Dr.  Alexander  simply  said, 
''  My  instincts  are  not  sufficient  to  comprehend,  much 
less  to  criticise,  that  discourse."  In  these  cases  the 
severity  was  no  doubt  well  deserved,  and  ought  to  have 
proved  beneficial.  But  professors  of  homiletics,  and  even 
unofficial  critics  of  preaching,  doubtless  often  err,  and 
sometimes  gravely  and  hurtfully  err,  in  bestowing  their 
causticities  as  well  as  their  commendations. 

Dr.  James  Waddell  Alexander  this  year  succeeded  Dr. 
Miller  as  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History-  and  Church 
Government,  and  the  next  year  took  over  from  his  father 
the  subject  of  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons.  He 
resigned  in  1851,  and  it  was  Boyce's  singular  good  fortune 
to  hear  his  only  course  of  lectures  on  this  latter  topic, —  the 
notes  of  which  lectures  the  student  always  greatly  valued. 
From  1851  to  1859  Dr.  Alexander  was  pastor  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  of  iS'ew  York  cit}^,  which  he 
did  much  to  strengthen  and  train,  and  which,  under  the 
pastorate  of  Dr.  John  Hall,  is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leading  churches  of  America.  He  published  a  large  num- 
ber of  popular  and  useful  books,  of  which  the  ''  Sermons 
on  Consolation,"  the  biography  of  his  father,  and  the 
''Forty  Years'  Familiar  Letters  of  J.  W.  Alexander,"  are 
of  particular  interest  and  value.  His  now  venerable 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  James  Waddell,  the  "blind 
preacher,"  whom  William  Wirt  heard  in  a  church  near 
Gordonsville,  Va.,  and  described  in  an  often-quoted  pas- 
sage of  "The  British  Spy."  James's  wife  was  also  a 
Virginia  lady,  a  sister  of  the  famous  medical  professor, 
Dr.  James  L.  Cabell,  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 
These  two  ladies  naturally  took  a  special  interest  in 
Southern  students,  and  the  elder  once  said  that  she  knew 
the  Baptist  students  better  than  the  Presbyterian,  because 


70  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

they  were  more  inclined  to  be  sociable.  Her  daughter  and 
namesake,  IMiss  Janetta  Alexander,  is  also  remembered  as 
particularly  cordial  and  agreeable  towards  the  wife  of  a 
student. 

The  younger  son,  Dr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  among 
the  foremost  of  American  Biblical  scholars,  was  still  Pro- 
fessor of  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature,  which  two  years 
later  he  gave  up  for  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History. 
His  great  work  on  Isaiah  had  appeared  in  three  parts  in 
1846,  1847,  and  ^^The  Psalms  Translated  and  Explained" 
came  out  in  1850.  Addison  was  by  no  means  a  patient 
teacher  of  the  elements  of  Hebrew.  He  learned  languages 
himself  with  marvellous  facility,  and  could  not  sympathize 
with,  or  patiently  endure,  the  slow  mental  movements  of 
the  ordinary  student.  One  day,  when  some  fellow  had 
made  a  very  bad  out  of  his  Hiphil  forms  of  the  verb,  the 
professor  threw  down  his  Hebrew  grammar  on  the  table, 
and  angrily  said,  ''Gentlemen,  I  can't  spend  any  more 
time  on  these  elementary  matters.  Learn  them  for  your- 
selves. I  shall  begin  lecturing  on  Genesis  to-morrow." 
For  three  years  before  this,  his  students  had  enjoyed  the 
help  of  William  Henry  Green  as  instructor  in  Hebrew, 
who  resigned  that  position  in  1849,  and  in  1851  succeeded 
Dr.  Alexander  in  the  chair  which  he  still  occupies  with 
so  much  honor.  In  1850,  when  the  professor  had  worked 
alone  for  one  year,  it  was  found  advisable  to  appoint  another 
instructor  in  Hebrew.  It  is  somewhat  frequently  the  case 
that  a  great  linguistic  or  mathematical  genius  proves  ill- 
suited  to  elementary  instruction  in  the  subjects  he  masters 
with  such  facility;  and  a  teacher,  in  whatever  department 
or  grade,  must  constantly  strive  to  maintain  intellectual 
sympathy  with  his  pupils.  As  a  lecturer  on  exegesis,  Dr. 
Alexander  made  a  great  impression.  He  did  not  teach  the 
students  how  to  make  exegesis  for  themselves,  but  he  set 
them  a  noble  example,  by  his  complete  mastery  of  the 
requisite  learning,   his    honest  and   unwearied  pursuit  of 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  71 

truth,  and  the  clear  and  convincing  fashion  in  which  his 
results  were  stated.  He  was  particularly  fond,  as  his  works 
also  show,  of  reconciling  antagonistic  views,  not  simply  by 
the  easy  method  of  taking  an  intermediate  position,  but 
often  by  rising  to  some  higher  principle,  which  compre- 
hended them  both  in  its  unity ;  and  he  would  oflen  startle 
by  the  felicity  with  which  he  converted  objections  to  the 
truth  into  arguments  for  its  support.  A  few  years  later, 
as  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History,  his 
course  for  the  Junior  class  consisted  really  of  lectures  on 
the  English  Bible,  and  awakened  great  enthusiasm,  so  that 
Presbyterian  pastors  in  Philadelphia  would  run  out  to 
Princeton  to  hear  them,  and  students  of  that  period  have 
often  dwelt  upon  their  extraordinary  interest. 

Dr.  Chalmers  had  in  his  Lectures  in  Theology,  a  few 
years  earlier,  urged  upon  his  students  a  thorough  study  of 
the  English  Bible.  But  these  lectures  bj^  Alexander  are 
the  earliest  known  instance  of  making  the  English  Bible  the 
text-book  on  a  large  scale  in  a  theological  seminary,  —  a 
plan  afterwards  much  more  extensively  and  sj^stematically 
pursued  in  the  Seminar}^  which  James  P.  Boj'ce  founded, 
and  of  late  years  beginning  to  be  adopted  in  various 
institutions.  In  his  last  years,  Addison  Alexander 
published  Commentaries  on  Acts,  Mark,  Matthew  (chapter 
i.-xvi.,  interrupted  by  his  death  in  1860),  which  are 
admirable  specimens  of  penetrating  and  judicious  exposi- 
tion, and  must  long  continue  to  be  necessary  to  a  minister's 
library.  The  memoir  by  his  nephew.  Dr.  Henry  C.  Alexan- 
der, is  a  work  full  of  inspiration  for  any  minister  or  stu- 
dent for  the  ministry  who  values  high  scholarship,  and 
appreciates  rare  and  varied  gifts.  It  is  said  that  Princeton 
students  were  greatly  impressed  by  Addison's  occasional 
sermons,  and  many  of  these  have  been  collected  in  two 
volumes  of  great  value.  His  intellectual  power  seized 
upon  a  truth  with  the  most  vigorous  grasp,  his  imagina- 
tion threw  over  it  the  chastened  splendors  of  a  genuine 


72  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

illumination,  and  liis  wealth  of  choicest  English  fitted  it- 
self to  every  phase  of  truth  like  a  garment  to  him  that 
wears  it.  A  shy  and  recluse  student,  he  was  never  a  pas- 
tor, and  was  not  widely  known  as  a  preacher;  but  others 
besides  the  students  have  testified  that  when  inspired  by 
some  great  theme  he  would  at  times  read  one  of  his  noble 
discourses  with  overmastering  and  seldom-rivalled  power. 
Dr.  Hodge  once  said  to  Dr.  J.  W.  Warder  that  Addison 
had  the  finest  mind  he  had  ever  known.  It  may  be  a  use- 
ful warning  to  add  that  this  admirable  man  presumed  on 
his  always  vigorous  health,  and  devoted  himself  to  in- 
cessant reading  and  writing,  with  an  almost  total  neglect 
of  exercise;  and  so,  at  the  age  of  fifty,  there  came  a  sudden 
collapse,  and  the  world  lost  all  those  other  noble  works 
which  he  might  have  been  expected  to  produce,  and  which 
some  of  us  were  so  eagerly  awaiting. 

But  the  most  influential  of  all  Boyce's  instructors  at 
Princeton  was  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  now  fifty-two  years 
old,  and  at  the  height  of  his  powers.  A  graduate  of  the 
seminary,  and  professor  there  since  1820,  he  had  spent 
1826-1828  as  a  student  in  Paris  and  Germany.  He  had 
founded  in  1825  the  *' Biblical  Bepertory/'  afterwards 
called  "  Biblical  Repertory  and  Princeton  Beview,''  which 
he  was  still  editing,  and  which  as  a  theological  quarterly 
had  no  rival  in  America  save  the  Andover  ^' Bibliotheca 
Sacra."  Two  years  before  this  he  had  collected  from  the 
review  his  two  volumes  of  ^'Princeton  Theological  Es- 
says,'' and  much  earlier  (1835)  had  sent  out  his  famous 
"Commentary  on  Romans,"  abridged  in  1836,  and  en- 
larged in  1866.  Other  works  had  also  appeared  from  his 
busy  pen,  including  an  excellent  practical  treatise  called 
"The  Way  of  Life."  The  Commentaries  on  Ephesians 
and  on  First  and  Second  Corinthians  came  out  some  years 
later,  and  his  Ttiagnum  opus,  the  "  Systematic  Theology, " 
three  volumes  8vo,  did  not  appear  till  1871.  But  already 
in  Boyce's  time  this  great  theological  course  was  mainly 


AT  TRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINAKY.  73 

devel.)i)e(l,  and  laboriously,  dictated  to  the  students.  Dr. 
Hodge  was  a  singularly  clear  and  consecutive  thinker. 
Dr.  Manly  remembered  it  as  a  saying  of  the  students, 
^'His  thoughts  move  in  rows.''  Even  in  the  most  fa- 
miliar address,  every  thought  would  bring  with  it  the 
related  thoughts.  In  the  Sunday  afternoon  meetings, 
when  his  turn  came  to  speak  upon  the  practical  topic  which 
had  been  chosen,  he  would  first  lead  up  to  the  subject,  then 
discuss  it,  and  finally  draw  inferences  or  lessons;  and  this 
not  in  the  waj^  of  formality,  but  through  the  habit  of  his 
mind.  He  was  also  a  man  of  marked  Christian  earnest- 
ness and  fervor,  with  whom  the  great  doctrines  were  living- 
facts.  James  Boyce  was  more  powerfully  impressed  by 
Dr.  Hodge  than  by  any  other  Princeton  professor,  and 
j^robably  more  than  by  any  other  teacher  except  President 
Waj^land.  Dr.  Manly  also  felt  satisfied  that  he  learned 
more  from  Hodge  than  any  of  the  others.  It  was  a  great 
privilege  to  be  directed  and  upborne  by  such  a  teacher  in 
studying  that  exalted  sj'stem  of  Pauline  truth  which  is 
technically  called  Calvinism,  which  compels  an  earnest 
student  to  profound  thinking,  and,  when  pursued  with  a 
combination  of  systematic  thought  and  fervent  experience, 
makes  him  at  home  among  the  most  inspiring  and  enno- 
bling views  of  God  and  of  the  universe  he  has  made. 
Dr.  Hodge  was  at  this  time  in  quite  poor  health,  and 
suffered  great  and  long-continued  distress  at  the  death  of 
his  wife,  Dec.  25,  1849;  but  his  work  was  faithfully  done. 
We  have  thus  seen  that,  except  the  lack  of  Dr.  Green's 
help  in  Hebrew,  our  student  was  greatly  favored  in  his 
Princeton  professors.  Hodge  and  Addison  Alexander 
were  at  the  height  of  their  great  powers.  Archibald 
Alexander  was  still  giving,  in  the  class-room  and  in 
private,  the  fruits  of  his  eminent  gifts  and  rich  experi- 
ence, and  these  were  the  last  two  years  of  his  long  life. 
James  Alexander  was  an  inspiring  teacher  and  friend, 
and  his  professorial  work  was  limited  to  Boyce's  two 
years. 


74  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

His  fellow-students  also  comprised  a  number  of  superior 
men.  Among  the  fifty-two  members  of  the  entering  class, 
even  persons  little  acquainted  with  Presbyterian  history 
can  point  out  several  who  afterwards  became  distinguished. 
E.  F.  Bunting,  D.  D.,  was  long  pastor  at  San  Antonio 
and  Galveston,  Texas,  and  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  in 
1876  became  editor  of  the  Texas  '^  Presbyterian.''  W.  C. 
Cattell,  D.  D.,  was  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  La- 
fayette College,  Pa.,  1855-1860,  and  in  1863  became 
president  of  the  college.  J.  M.  Crowell,  D.  D.,  was  long 
pastor  in  Philadelphia.  Caspar  Wistar  Hodge,  D.  D., 
son  of  Charles  Hodge,  was  teacher  and  pastor  for  some 
years,  and  in  1860  became  Professor  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  seminary,  having  succeeded  Addison 
Alexander,  who  had  held  that  position  for  one 'year;  Dr. 
C.  W.  Hodge  died  in  1891.  George  McQueen  was  a  mis- 
sionary in  Western  Africa  from  1852  to  his  death  in  1859. 
Robert  Price,  D.  D.,  a  Mississippian,  was  long  pastor  in 
Vicksburg.  Eobert  Watts,  D.  D.,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
was  pastor  in  Philadelphia  for  ten  years,  and  in  Dublin 
for  three  years,  and  since  1866  has  been  professor  of  Sys- 
tematic Theology  in  the  Assembly's  College  at  Belfast, 
Ireland.  He  is  the  author  of  numerous  works  in  support 
of  Presbyterianism  or  of  general  orthodoxy,  of  which  the 
best  known  are  ''The  Newer  Criticism"  (1881),  "The 
Rule  of  Paith  and  the  Doctrine  of  Inspiration"  (1885), 
and  ''The  New  Apologetic." 

Among  the  students  who  entered  a  year  later  than  Boyce 
we  may  mention  Edgar  Woods,  who  was  Presbyterian  pas- 
tor at  several  places  in  Virginia  and  Ohio,  and  after  1877 
a  teacher  at  Charlottesville,  Ya.  There  was  also  quite 
a  group  of  Baptist  students  from  the  South  who  entered 
that  year,  the  division  between  Northern  and  Southern 
Baptists  making  many  reluctant  to  attend  Newton  or 
Hamilton.  Alfred  Bagby  has  spent  a  very  useful  life  as 
pastor  of  Baptist  churches  in  King  and  Queen  and  adja- 
cent counties  of  Virginia.     Andrew  Fuller  Davidson  was 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.         75 

also  a  beloved  pastor  of  churches  in  Virginia  for  a  good 
many  years  till  his  death.  James  K.  Mendenhall  had 
been  Boyce's  friend  in  Charleston,  and  his  fellow-student 
at  Brown  University.  He  became  pastor  of  various 
Baptist  churches  in  South  Carolina  and  Florida,  and 
since  1875  has  labored  as  missionary  and  evangelist  in 
South  Carolina,  residing  in  Greenville.  Kichard  Furman 
Whilden  had  studied  at  the  Furman  Institution  in  Soutli 
Carolina,  and  was  admitted  to  the  middle  class  in  Prince- 
ton, thus  becoming  Boyce's  class-mate.  He  was  graduated 
in  1852,  was  pastor  and  teacher  at  various  points  in  South 
Carolina,  and  since  1864  has  resided  in  Greenville  Count}', 
teaching  and  preaching. 

Of  those  who  had  entered  a  year  earlier  than  Bo3^ce  at 
least  a  few  ought  to  be  mentioned.  Bobert  G.  Branh,  D.  D., 
was  long  pastor  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  since  1869  has 
been  a  well-known  pastor  in  St.  Louis.  S.  S.  Laws, 
LL.D.,  was  for  some  years  president  of  Westminster 
College,  Mo.,  and  then  president  of  the  University  of 
Missouri  from  1875  to  1890.  Joseph  W.  "Warder,  D.  D., 
of  Kentucky,  had  been  two  years  a  student  at  Newton 
Institution,  near  Boston,  and  came  to  Princeton  for  his 
third  year.  He  was  Baptist  pastor  at  various  points  in 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  of  the  Walnut  Street  Baptist 
Church  in  Louisville,  1875-1880.  Since  that  time  he  has 
been  Corresponding  Secretarj^  of  the  Executive  Board  of 
the  Baptist  General  "Association  of  Kentucky.  Of  those 
who  composed  the  Senior  class  when  Bojxe  entered,  L.  G. 
Barbour,  D.  D.,  has  been  a  teacher  at  various  points  in 
Kentucky,  and  is  now  professor  in  the  Central  University 
at  Richmond,  in  that  State.  Basil  INIauly,  Jr.,  of  Ala- 
bama, after  one  year  at  Newton,  had  entered  Princeton  in 
1815,  and  been  graduated  in  1817.  This  was  two  years 
before  Boyce  entered;  but  it  is  mentioned  because  they 
had  been  boys  together  in  Charleston,  and  were  destined 
to  be  colleagues  for  many  years. 


Vo  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Almost  every  student  is  more  interested  in  one  or  two 
subjects  than  in  the  rest  of  his  appointed  course  of  study. 
Mr.  Boyce  had  at  Brown  University  become  a  thoroughly 
earnest  student ;  and  the  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
be  a  preacher,  together  with  his  brief  experience  as  an 
editor,  must  have  deepened  the  desire  to  become  acquainted 
with  all  the  leading  departments  of  a  theological  course. 
He  worked  faithfully  in  all  directions.  He  also  gave  un- 
usual attention  to  the  library,  steadily  accumulating  that 
general  knowledge  of  books  for  which  he  was  remarkable 
through  life.  Observe  the  plans  indicated  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten a  few  weeks  after  his  arrival  at  Princeton :  — 

"  T  am  now  pursuing,  in  connection  with  lectures  on  that  sub- 
ject, a  full  course  of  reading  in  Mental  Philosophy,  designing  to 
extend  it  from  that  of  the  Greeks  down  to  the  present  day.  At 
the  same  time  I  am  pursuing  Hebrew  Exegesis  in  Genesis,  and 
Greek  in  Eomans,  and  am  carrying  on  a  course  of  reading  in 
the  biography  of  the  great  and  the  good  who  have  shed  lustre 
upon  the  Christian  name." 

But  his  favorite  study  from  beginning  to  end  was  Sys- 
tematic Theology.  He  was  naturally  inclined  to  reflect 
upon  principles  and  causes,  and  had  a  facility  in  organiz- 
ing the  results  of  reading  and  talk  which  was  akin  to  his 
unusual  talent  for  organizing  and  administering  business 
affairs.  These  natural  capacities  had  been  no  little  devel- 
oped by  Dr.  Wayland's  instructions  in  psychology  and 
ethics,  and  by  his  familiar  association  with  Dr.  A.  M. 
Poindexter,  who  delighted  to  draw  every  young  minister 
into  the  deepest  theological  inquiry  and  the  most  animated 
discussion.  The  leading  subject  at  Princeton  has  always 
been  Theology.  Thus  tlie  whole  atmosphere  of  the  place 
united  with  the  great  powers  and  influence  of  Dr.  Hodge 
and  the  native  tendencies  and  previous  training  of  this 
student  to  make  him  especially  earnest  in  the  study  of 
Systematic  and  Polemic  Theology. 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  77 

During  the  second  session  he  took  his  regiiUir  part  in 
the  appointed  preaching  and  in  the  prayer-meeting;  but 
Mr.  Whilden  says  he  was  not  prominent  in  the  debating 
society.  This  must  have  arisen  from  the  pressure  of  his 
studies,  for  he  was  naturally  fond  of  discussion,  and 
through  life  his  powers  always  worked  to  better  advantage 
in  debate  on  the  floor  than  in  pulpit  discourse.  During 
the  second  session,  when  Mr.  Whilden  was  there,  Boycc 
was  overwhelmingly  busy,  for  he  determined  to  carry  on 
the  studies  of  the  Senior  class  together  with  those  of  the 
IVIiddle  class,  to  which  he  belonged.  He  obtained  from 
some  fellow-student  the  full  notes  of  Dr.  Hodge's  course 
in  Theology,  as  dictated  in  previous  years ;  and  these  were 
patiently  copied  by  the  young  wife,  thus  saving  him  a 
great  deal  of  time  and  toil.  Add  to  this  that  he  had  an 
extraordinary  power  of  application  and  endurance,  —  he 
could  work  for  weeks,  when  under  an}^  special  pressure, 
with  five  hours  a  day  of  sleep,  almost  no  exercise,  and  well- 
nigh  incessant  application  to  study.  His  recreation  was 
found  in  cheery  talk  at  meals,  in  the  occasional  drives  of 
which  he  was  fond,  and  the  somewhat  frequent  visits  which 
he  and  his  wife  paid  to  his  sister  Mary,  Mrs.  William 
Lane,   of  Kew  York  city. 

In  December  he  writes  to  Mr.  Tupper  that  the}^  have  a 
delightful  place  of  boarding,  with  the  widow  of  an  emi- 
nent physician.  The  Georgia  wife  is  "in  perfect  ec- 
stasies with  the  to  her  somewhat  unusual  sight  "  of  a 
heavy  snow.  Two  of  his  sisters  have  just  been  married 
in  Charleston  to  Mr.  Tupper  and  Mr.  Burckmyer,  and  in 
sending  congratulations  he  speaks  most  enthusiastically 
of  his  own  wife.  He  is  exceedingly  pleased  with  Dr.  James 
Alexander,  —  a  handsome  man,  with  beautiful  dark  eyes, 
and  the  bearing  of  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  in  the 
department  of  sacred  rhetoric  ''the  most  delightful  lec- 
turer I  have  ever  heard."  He  thinks  Addison  Alexander 
"the  most  gifted,  but  by  no  means  the  most  admirable^ 


iS  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

member  of  the  Faculty,"  having  seen  him  display  ^^an 
ungovernable  temper,"  —  probably  with  reference  to  the 
Hebrew.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  is  fast  declining  in 
years,  and  does  not  seem  ''as  gifted  as  his  sons,  but  has 
a  very  clear,  logical  mind.'^  Dr.  Hodge  ''is  one  of  the 
most  excellent  of  men ;  so  modest  and  yet  so  wise,  so  kind 
and  fatherly  in  his  manner,  and  yet  of  so  giant  an  intel- 
lect, he  is  a  man  who  deserves  a  world  of  praise."  In 
February  Boyce  has  been  to  New  York,  .and  finds  the 
Lane  family  about  to  build  a  *home  on  Madison  Square, 
and  attending  the  ministry  of  the  famous  Dr.  William  E. 
Williams.  He  expresses  much  fervent  solicitude,  and 
again  and  again  proposes  special  prayer  for  the  conversion 
of  various  relatives.  He  affectionately  urges  Mr.  Tupper, 
who  has  become  pastor  at  Graniteville,  S.  C.  (near  Aiken), 
to  be  very  faithful  in  pastoral  visiting,  which  he  thinks 
a  good  many  ministers  comparatively  neglect. 

On  Feb.  17,  1850,  Mr.  Bo3^ce  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon that  remains  to  us,  and  it  is  indorsed  as  written 
in  January.  It  was  given  at  a  Baptist  church  called 
"Penn's  Neck,''  a  few  miles  from  Princeton.  The  text 
is  Acts  xxvi.  28:  ^^  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a 
Christian.''  It  is  thoroughly  practical,  and  intensely 
earnest,  abounding  in  pointed  address  to  different  classes 
of  hearers,  and  fervent  exhortation.  You  feel  in  reading 
that  you  are  dealing  with  a  man  of  strong  intellect,  great 
force  of  character,  and  large  heart,  a  man  full  of  Christian 
love  and  zeal,  and  consumed  with  desire  to  save  souls. 
The  sentences  are  often  wanting  in  symmetry,  and  show 
the  hurried  negligence  from  which  his  style  never  wholly 
recovered;  but  the  thoughts  are  made  entirely  clear,  and 
are  expressed  with  vigor  and  force.  Written  when  he  was 
just  twenty-three  years  old,  it  is  a  notable  sermon. 

We  learn  from  his  wife  that  he  frequently  preached  at 
^'Penn's  Neck"  during  this  and  the  following  session. 
Dr.  C.  W.  Hodge,  who  was  his  fellow-student,  in  a  letter 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.  79 

after  Boyce's  death  spoke  of  ''his  high  reputation  for 
eloquence  and  strength  in  the  pulpit,"  and  says  he  "was 
in  request  for  supplying  pulpits  out  of  town/'  It  is  well 
that  seminary  students  should  preach  somewhat  fre- 
quently, not  for  practice  and  criticism  before  a  class,  but 
as  actual  preaching  to  a  real  congregation.  They  can  thus 
add  greatly  to  the  evangelizing  and  pastoral  work  of  the 
city  and  vicinity,  and  in  this  day  of  fast  trains  can  go  to 
distances  of  a  hundred  miles  or  more.  In  every  theolo- 
gical school  there  are  doubtless  some  students  who  spend 
too  much  time  in  preaching,  especially  when  they  become 
pastors,  and  must  hold  protracted  meetings.  But  on  the 
whole  it  is  believed  that  students  should  be  encouraged 
to  preach,  for  they  may  do  good  to  others,  and  gain  beneiit 
to  themselves.  The  religious  fervor  in  which  a  young 
man  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  will  often 
be  best  maintained  by  actual  preaching,  or  at  any  rate  by 
teaching  in  mission  Sunday-schools  and  the  like.  Theo- 
logical studies  ought  to  be  pursued  throughout  as  having 
a  practical  aim;  and  this  aim  is  best  kept  in  view  by  the 
student  who  is  doing  some  actual  ministerial  work.  Be- 
sides, the  pecuniar}^  compensation  which  is  sometimes 
received  will  enable  a  man  to  continue  his  studies  w^ithout 
depressing  want  or  extreme  dependence  upon  the  gene 
rosity  of  others.  Mr.  Boyce's  means  are  well  known  to 
have  been  ample;  but  through  life  he  welcomed,  and  indeed 
required,  suitable  compensation  for  ministerial  service, 
because  he  would  have  just  that  much  more  to  give  away, 
and  because  he  was  not  willing  to  encourage  a"  church  in 
the  neglect  of  its  own  duty  to  support  the  ministry. 

The  vacation  in  the  summer  of  1850  was  spent  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Boyce  with  her  relatives  in  Virginia,  chiefly 
with  her  uncle,  Burwell  Ficklen,  in  Fredericksburg,  and 
her  uncle,  George  Ficklen,  at  Thompsonville,  in  Culpeper 
County,  and  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Brown,  who  lived  in  the  same 
neighborhood.     These  were  all  families  of  high  standing 


80  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

and  large  liospitality,  where  many  agreeable  acquaintances 
were  to  be  made,  besides  the  circle  of  kinsfolk.  It  was  a 
delightful  way  to  spend  vacation.  The  Piedmont  Coun- 
ties of  Virginia,  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  are  a  singularly 
healthy  region,  half  way  between  North  and  South,  half 
way  between  sea-coast  and  mountain.  In  summer  weather, 
to  ride  or  drive  over  beautiful  hills  and  vales,  gazing  at 
will  upon  the  deep-blue  mountain  range  on  the  west,  and 
to  visit  the  large  country  houses  and  large-hearted  country 
folk,  must  be  healthy  in  every  sense.  Our  young  couple 
were  both  remarkably  adapted  to  enjoy  such  a  series  of 
visits,  and  to  brighten  life  for  all  with  whom  they  met. 
Yew  men  so  promptly  win  and  so  permanently  hold  the 
confidence  and  affection  of  others  as  did  James  P.  Boyce. 
Highly  cordial  in  manner  and  manifestly  sincere,  big- 
hearted  and  considerate,  overflowing  with  vitality,  and 
yet  full  of  gentle  courtesy  and  abounding  in  delicate  tact, 
he  seemed  perfectly  at  ease,  and  made  all  around  feel  at 
ease,  alike  in  the  palaces  of  the  rich  and  in  the  cottages  of 
the  poor.  One  fancies  there  must  still  be  persons  in  Cul- 
peper  and  m  Fredericksburg  who  remember  that  summer 
visit  of  their  gifted  and  charming  young  cousins  as  an 
epoch  of  rare  enjoyment. 

This  region  was  full  of  Baptist  churches.  A  sermon 
remains,  indorsed  by  Boyce  as  first  preached  at  Mount  Le- 
banon church,  Rappahannock  County,  Ya.,  August  11,  and 
at  Fredericksburg,  August  25,  1850.  It  contains  glowing 
expressions  about  the  beauties  of  Nature,  which  leave  little 
doubt  that  it  was  written  in  Culpeper,  amid  the  beautiful 
hills  and  in  sight  of  the  beautiful  mountains ;  for  Prince- 
ton, with  all  its  celebrity  and  advantages,  lies  in  a  flat 
and  dull  country.  It  is  always  pleasant  when  the  thoughts 
of  poet  or  speaker  take  shape  and  color  from  the  immediate 
surroundings.  This  sermon  is  on  John  iii.  16,  ^^For  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,'' 
etc.      The    introduction  is  excellent,   and  the  plan  good. 


AT   PRINCETON   TIIEOLCXJICAL   SEMINAllY.  81 

There  is  perhaps  too  much  of  theological  discussion  about 
the  (liviue  nature  and  purposes,  and  the  relations  of  the 
Father  to  the  Son,  for  a  discourse  meant  to  be  thoroughly 
practical.  It  often  requires  considerable  experience  before 
the  ministerial  student  can  avoid  carrying  unchanged  into 
the  pulpit  the  thoughts  and  methods  which  have  deeply 
interested  him  in  the  lecture-room.  But  the  fault  in  this 
case  is  at  any  rate  not  serious.  The  sermon  is  earnest, 
and  aims  at  practical  results ;  and  it  can  hardly  have  failed 
to  have  been  heard  with  great  interest,  when  read  in  the 
sonorous  and  musical  tones,  and  with  the  impressive  and 
engaging  aspect,  of  the  young  preacher.^  After  leaving 
Virginia  he  visited  New  York  city,  and  attended  a  meet- 
ing of  his  class  at  Brown  University,  introducing  his  wife 
to  his  classmates. 

Through  his  first  letter  from  Princeton  in  September  we 
learn  that  this  summer  travelling  had  occupied  more  than 
four  months.  On  every  Sunday  but  three  he  had  preached, 
and  had  enjoyed  much  time  for  general  reading.  His 
health  was  now  excellent.  He  had  decided  to  carr}^  on 
the  third  year's  work  together  with  that  of  the  second  year, 
and  was  beginning  to  plan  for  the  next  summer,  when  he 
should  leave  Princeton.  If  no  immediate  opening  for  use- 
fulness should  be  found  in  South  Carolina,  he  thought  of 
going  to  Halle,  in  German}^,  especially  to  stud}^  German 
and  Hebrew;  or,  to  avoid  separation  from  his  wife,  he  might 
spend  several  months  in  some  Nortliern   city,  and  there 

1  He  must  have  left  Culpeper  for  Fredericksburg  about  August  20. 
Ten  days  later,  the  writer  of  this  memoir,  having  been  graduated  ia 
June  at  tlie  University  of  Virginia,  and  gone  to  visit  his  kindred  in 
Culpeper,  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Shiloh  Association  at  a  place  only 
four  or  five  miles  from  ]\Ir.  George  Fickleu's,  and  was  frightened  by 
being  asked  to  preach.  If  Boyce  had  remained  a  little  longer  he  would 
have  attended  also,  for  h.e  was  fond  of  Associations,  and  two,  who  were 
destined  to  toil  so  long  together,  would  have  met  years  before  they  did 
meet.  Hawthorne  has  a  quaint  story  to  illustrate  how  often  things 
come  very  near  happening,  and  do  not  happen. 

6 


82  MEMOIR   OF   JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

study  the  same  languages.  Two  weeks  later  he  is  still 
considering  where  he  shall  settle  as  a  minister.  If  there 
is  no  available  place  in  South  Carolina,  he  would  be 
willing  to  labor  near  Providence,  E.  I.,  or  else  he  will  go 
West,  having  had  already  an  informal  invitation  to  St. 
Louis.  His  present  studies  (probably  meaning  especially 
Theolog}^  and  Homiletics)  have  impressed  on  him  afresh 
the  great  importance  of  the  ministry.  He  feels  deeply 
unworthy  to  be  an  ambassador  for  God,  not  competent  to 
speak  words  on  which  must  depend  men's  happiness  or 
miser}'-,  according  as  they  shall  believe  them.  He  envies 
his  correspondent  the  ministerial  usefulness  already  at- 
tained, and  longs  to  equal  him,  —  yea,  wishes  he  could  do 
more  than  man  ever  did,  in  saving  souls  through  the  grace 
of  God.  He  is  engaged  in  anxious  self-examination  as  to 
the  reality  of  his  call  to  be  a  minister.  In  December  he 
expresses  great  regret  at  learning  that  all  the  pamphlets, 
etc.,  he  left  at  home  have  somehow  been  destroyed.  He  was 
through  life  very  solicitous  to  preserve  every  pamphlet  or 
periodical,  and  bequeathed  to  the  Seminary  a  very  large 
and  valuable  collection  of  these,  along  with  his  theolo- 
gical library.  This  early  loss  included  all  his  college 
addresses,  and  some  sermons,  with  valued  letters,  etc.  He 
is  rejoiced  to  hear  that  Mr.  Tupper  has  been  preaching  on 
Sunday  afternoons  to  the  negroes,  including  a  large  number 
of  hired  men  engaged  in  building  a  railroad,  and  urges 
him  to  continue  this,  if  his  health  will  possibly  allow. 
''The  Lord  will  bless  your  labors  to  them.  Teach  them 
as  well  as  preach  to  them.  You  know  I  have  long  thought 
that  for  such  congregations  there  should  be  given  a  great 
deal  of  exposition,  such  as  is  suitable  to  explain  and  cause 
them  to  remember  the  sacred  text.  I  should  delight  to 
preach  to  them  myself.  I  think  that  while  we  from  the 
South  should  support  our  mission  to  Africa,  we  should 
also  remember  Africa  at  home.  Let  us  teach  them,  preach 
to  them,   bear  with  them,   explain  to  them,  though  they 


AT  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.  83 

may  be  slow  of  heart  to  believe.  May  God  bless  your 
efforts,  and  those  of  all  who  attempt  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  these  poor  of  our  land." 

Mr.  Boyce  left  Princeton  somewhat  before  the  close  of 
the  session,  May  1st.  As  a  matter  of  course  he  received 
no  diploma,  since  he  did  not  remain  till  the  end  of  the 
course.  He  was  always  satisfied  that  he  learned  more  by 
the  plan  pursued  than  if  he  had  entered  the  middle  year 
(making  up  the  Hebrew  by  private  work),  which  would 
have  given  him  the  regular  graduation.  He  spent  two  or 
three  months  in  New  York,  devoting  himself  to  a  thorough 
review  of  his  theological  studies.  He  considered  the 
question  of  going  to  study  in  Germany,  but  concluded 
that  he  must  now  begin  ministerial  work.  Writing  to 
Mr.  Tupper  in  March,  he  expresses  a  deep  sense  of  un- 
worthiness,  but  a  strong  desire  to  be  the  means  of  saving 
souls  and  glorifying  Christ. 

In  July  we  find  him  at  Washington,  Ga.,  considering 
an  invitation  to  become  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at 
Columbia,  S.  C.  The  church  records  show  that,  August  9, 
they  received  a  letter  from  him  accepting  the  pastoral 
charge,  to  take  effect  1st  October. 

In  the  summer  of  1851  Mr.  Ker  Boyce  made  a  trip  to 
Europe,  accompanied  by  his  youngest  children,  Ker  and 
Lizzie;  but  we  have  no  details.  The  desire  to  visit 
Europe  grew  upon  James  through  all  the  years,  but  had  to 
be  denied  till  near  the  close  of  his  life, —  one  of  the  many 
sacrifices  he  made  for  the  work  of  theological  education. 


84  MEMOm  or  JAMES  p.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER   YII. 

PASTOR   AT   COLUxMBIA,   1851-1855. 

C "COLUMBIA,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina  since  1790, 
J  is  one  hundred  miles  northwest  from  Charleston,  on 
the  Congaree  Eiver.  This  river  is  formed  hy  the  junction 
of  the  Broad  and  the  Saluda,  and  is  navigable  to  the  rapids 
which  lie  just  below  the  junction.  Hence  the  location  of 
the  city,  and  marked  advantages  in  the  way  of  water-power, 
never  realized  till  recently.  The  population  in  1851,  when 
Mr.  Boyce  became  pastor,  was  about  seven  thousand.  There 
was  a  railwa}^  to  Charleston,  Avhich  presently  made  a  junc- 
tion with  a  railway  leading  northward  by  Wilmington, 
N.  C,  and  lower  down  with  another  leading  westward  by 
Augusta  and  Atlanta.  Of  late  years  Columbia  has  become 
quite  a  railroad  centre,  and  there  has  been  a  marked 
growth  in  manufacturing  and  in  population. 

The  city  is  in  a  healthy  region.  The  ridge  of  sand  and 
pines,  which  near  Augusta  has  become  so  famous  at  Aiken, 
the  home  of  consumptives,  extends  northeastward  so  as  to 
include  the  neighborhood  of  Columbia.  The  sand  absorbs 
moisture  so  as  to  dry  the  atmosphere,  and  the  pine-trees 
take  out  malarious  elements,  so  that  in  this  region  persons 
having  weak  lungs  in  early  years  have  lived  a  comparatively 
\<d\\Si,  and  vigorous  life. 

Columbia  was  already  quite  a  handsome  Southern  town. 
The  spacious  streets  were  well  shaded,  some  of  them  hav- 
ing not  only  trees  along  the  sidewalks,  but  a  double  row 
along  the  centre,  w4th  a  walk  between,  as  in  Augusta, 
Savannah,  and  other  Southern  cities,  and  in  Commonwealth 
Avenue,  Boston.     There  were  many  handsome  residences, 


PASTOR  AT  COLUMBIA.  85 

built  in  the  Southeru  style,  with  large  rooms  and  ample 
windows,  and  with  broad  porticos  or  verandas,  sometimes 
on  all  four  sides  of  the  house,  and  even  repeated  for  the 
second  story.  The  principal  dwellings  were  surrounded 
by  extensive  grounds  filled  with  trees,  shrubbery,  and 
flowers.  It  is  difficult  for  one  who  has  not  seen  them  to 
imagine  the  delightsomeness  of  these  Southern  abodes, 
found  often  in  the  country  as  well  as  in  the  town.  From 
the  blazing  sun  jou  passed  into  an  atmosphere  of  de- 
licious coolness,  delicately  perfumed  by  the  odor  of  grow- 
ing flowers  that  entered  at  every  window.  The  family 
were  often  highly  educated,  and  always  had  in  a  high  de- 
gree the  charming  manners  of  an  aristocratic  society.  The 
hospitality  seemed  perfect.  The  memory  of  even  brief 
visits  to  those  noble  Southern  homes  bears  now  a  touch  of 
romance,  like  the  history  of  the  old  French  noblesse,  and 
something  like  the  stories  of  the  Arabian  ISTights.  Prob- 
ably the  most  notable  residence  in  Columbia  was  the 
famous  Hampton  House,  built  by  the  second  Wade  Hamp- 
ton, whose  father  was  colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  general  in  the  War  of  1812,  who  was  himself  aide  to 
General  Jackson  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  whose 
son,  of  the  same  name,  is  the  Confederate  general  and 
United  States  Senator,  —  all  three  celebrated  for  skilful 
horsemanship,  all  gifted  and  gallant  soldiers,  all  capital 
specimens  of  the  Southern  gentleman,  .and  born  leaders  of 
men.  The  Hampton  House  and  its  grounds  are  said  to 
have  cost  $60,000,  which  was  then  a  large  sum  of  money. 
Around  Columbia  in  various  directions  are  low  and  pleas- 
ing hills,  which,  with  the  river  scenery,  make  fine  drives, 
such  as  Boyce  delighted  in. 

The  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  possessed  unusual 
powers,  electing  not  only  governor  and  judges  and  senators, 
but  the  electors  for  president,  and  also  appointing  all  man- 
ner of  county  officials.  This  gave  dignity  to  the  post  of 
State  representative  or   senator,  and    so  the  Legislature 


86  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

included  many  of  the  leading  planters.  These,  with  the 
governor  and  other  members  of  the  State  government,  who 
were  apt  to  be  wealth}^,  constituted  every  winter  a  very 
attractive  social  circle  in  Columbia,  often  occup3'ing 
handsome  dwellings  of  their  own,  and  dispensing  a  lavish 
and  refined  hospitality. 

The  State  sustained  in  Columbia  a  military  school,  called 
the  Arsenal,  for  the  first  and  second  years  of  stud}^,  the 
two  higher  jeavs  being  taken  at  the  Citadel,  in  Charleston. 
Here  also  was  the  South  Carolina  College,  founded  in  1804. 
We  have  seen  that  among  its  alumni  were  J.  L.  Petigru 
and  Basil  Manly,  and  may  add  that  they  included  by  1851 
a  great  many  men  of  whom  South  Carolina  is  justly  proud, 
in  every  leading  pursuit  of  life.  Among  them  was  the 
celebrated  William  C.  Preston,  who  in  the  United  States 
Senate  and  elsewhere  was  recognized  as  almost  unrivalled 
in  oratorical  splendor  and  passion  (not  strange  in  the  son 
of  Patrick  Henry's  sister),  and  who  was  just  ending  in 
1851  a  term  of  six  years  as  president  of  the  college.  His 
wide  popularity,  and  the  charm  of  his  personal  influence, 
had  attracted  many  students;  and  though  not  remarkable 
for  teaching  power  or  general  administrative  talent,  he 
had  given  to  the  college  great  celebrity  and  a  commanding 
influence.  The  famous  James  H.  Thornwell.  D.  D.,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  Presbj^terian  ministers  and  educators 
in  America,  was  ajso  an  alumnus  of  the  college,  and  had 
for  thirteen  years  been  professor,  at  first  of  Logic  and 
jMetaphysics,  and  afterwards  of  Sacred  Literature,  with 
the  additional  and  influential  office  of  chaplain.  He  had 
resigned  in  May,  1851,  and  gone  to  Charleston  to  be 
pastor,  but  was  destined  soon  to  return. 

There  was  also  at  Columbia  a  Presbyterian  Theological 
Seminary,  which  had  been  twenty  years  in  existence,  and 
was  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Among  the  professors  was 
Dr.  George  Howe,  a  good  Biblical  scholar  and  a  very  gifted 
teacher,  of  whom  Mr.  Boyce  oft*en  spoke  with  admiration 


PASTOR   AT  COLUMBIA.  87 

in  subsequent  j^ears;  and  from  1853  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer, 
who  since  1856  has  been  pastor  in  N^ew  Orleans,  and  one 
of  the  most  eminent  preachers  in  America.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  the  city  had  a  very  flourishing  Presbyterian 
church.  The  Scotchmen  and  Scotch-Irish,  who  had  been 
so  influential  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  Stat-e,  were 
generally  faithful  to  Presbyterianism,  and  so  were  many 
of  the  Huguenot  families;  others  of  the  Huguenots,  to- 
gether with  the  leading  English  families  among  the  early 
settlers,  attached  themselves  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 
These  retained  the  social  prestige  brought  over  from  the 
English  Establishment,  as  Presbyterians  still  held  the 
educational  and  social  influence  which  they  had  brought 
from  Scotland.  Both  of  these  important  religious  bodies 
have  endeavored  in  America  to  confine  their  ministry  to 
men  regularl}'-  trained  for  the  purpose.  This  has  pre- 
vented their  taking  hold  upon  the  American  people  at 
large,  —  even  as  the  lawj^ers  and  doctors  of  this  country 
have  necessarily  included  a  very  large  proportion  of  men 
irregularly  trained;  and  the  great  popular  denominations 
have  been  those  that  encouraged  every  man  to  preach  who 
felt  moved  to  do  so,  and  whom  the  people  were  willing 
to  hear.  But  the  fact  that  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal 
clergymen  were  regarded  as  an  educated  class  added  to 
the  influences  above  mentioned  in  giving  those  religious 
denominations  a  powerful  hold  upon  American  cities  and 
towns,  which  continues  to  the  present  day.  About  the 
middle  of  this  century,  just  at  the  time  when  James  P. 
Boyce  began  his  work  as  a  pastor,  we  can  see  signs  of  a 
marked  advance  among  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  other 
denominations,  in  the  way  of  having  a  larger  proportion 
of  their  ministers  to  be  men  thoroughly  trained  for  that 
calling.  The  Baptist  ministry  had  always  included  some 
such  men,  in  South  Carolina  and  in  all  the  States;  but 
about  this  time  there  was  a  definite  forward  impulse. 
The  Baptist  church  at  Columbia  comprised  in  1851  but 


88  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

few  members,  none  of  them  possessing  much  of  social  in- 
fluence or  wealth.  The  house  of  worship  was  a  small  brick 
building,  presenting  a  very  plain  gable  front.  When 
young  men  reared  in  Baptist  families  came  from  the  coun- 
try or  from  Charleston  to  reside  in  the  capital,  there  was 
everything  to  draw  them  away  from  the  Baptist  church  to 
the  other  denominations  of  whom  we  have  spoken;  and 
yet  fay-seeing  men  could  perceive  that  it  was  wise  to  be- 
stow special  labor  upon  this  little  church.  If  a  minister 
of  ability  could  manage  to  live  there,  faithful  work  would 
tell ;  for  the  Baptists  were  numerous  in  some  parts  of  the 
State,  and  beginning  to  grow  almost  everywhere.  Mr. 
Boyce's  predecessor,  E-ev.  H.  A.  Duncan,  was  a  man  of 
talents  and  worth,  but  doubtless  found  it  impossible  to 
sustain  himself  on  the  meagre  salary.  Mr.  Boyce  had  the 
advantage  of  a  large  private  income,  and  also  of  personal 
acquaintance  and  influence  in  the  Charleston  Association, 
to  which  the  church  at  Columbia  belonged,  and  which 
might  be  induced  to  give  aid  and  comfort.  It  was  under- 
stood before  he  accepted  the  call  to  be  pastor  that  an  effort 
would  soon  be  made  to  erect  a  better  house  of  worship,  for 
which  it  was  believed  that  he  could  obtain  assistance  in 
other  parts  of  the  State. 

So  we  find  our  young  minister  entering  upon  his  duties 
as  pastor  in  Columbia,  Oct.  1,  1851.  Two  weeks  after,  he 
writes  that  he  is  much  pleased  with  the  work.  The  con- 
gregations are  very  small,  but  he  hopes,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  be  useful.  In  November  he  was  ordained,  the  pres- 
b^^tery  comprising  J.  B.  Kendrick  (of  Charleston),  John 
Culpeper,  John  M.  Timmons,  and  the  famous  Dr.  Thomas 
Curtis,  whom  w^e  shall  meet  later  in  these  Memoirs.  Dr. 
Curtis  asked  the  candidate  for  ordination  if  he  proposed  to 
make  a  life-long  matter  of  preaching;  and  he  answered, 
'■'  Yes,  provided  I  do  not  become  a  professor  of  theology.'' 
These  early  years  of  ministry  present,  as  frequently 
happens,  but  little  to  record.     As  he  is  now  near  to  Mr. 


PASTOR   AT   COLUMBIA.  89 

Tupper  and  they  often  meet,  the  letters  between  them  are 
few.  We  may  he  sure  that  he  was  diligently  studying 
theology,  reading  widely  in  his  own  already  large  collec- 
tion of  books  and  in  other  accessible  libraries,  and  faith-, 
fully  preparing  his  sermons.  Besides  the  Seminar}^,  the 
College  library  was  one  of  the  best  in  the  South.  Board- 
ing at  the  principal  hotel,  he  had  opportunity  for  making 
pleasant  acquaintance  with  legislators  and  other  leading 
men.  His  father  being  known  as  the  wealthiest  man  in 
Carolina,  and  he  himself  being  uncommonly  attractive 
and  agreeable,  while  his  wife  possessed  like  qualities  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  he  would  rapidly  gain  consideration  in 
important  quarters.  Yet  these  things  did  not  at  all  hin- 
der his  visits  to  the  humblest  homes  of  his  congregation, 
nor  his  personal  influence  over  all  who  attended  his  minis- 
try; for  he  had  rare  power  of  making  himself  easy  and 
agreeable  among  all,  and  he  was  deeply  earnest  in  the  desire 
to  be  useful  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  In  December  Col- 
onel Preston  left  the  presidency  of  the  college,  on  account 
of  ill  health,  and  Dr.  Thornwell  yielded  to  much  urgency, 
and,  giving  up  again  his  cherished  desire  to  be  a  pastor, 
returned  to  Columbia  and  became  president.  As  a  gradu- 
ate of  Princeton,  the  son  of  Ker  Boyce,  and  an  attractive 
gentleman,  the  young  Baptist  pastor  must  have  early  be- 
come acquainted  with  this  great  man,  whose  sermon  in  a 
Charleston  pulpit  had  so  charmed  him  in  boyhood,  and 
whose  influence  must  have  conduced  to  the  promotion  of 
profound  thinking,  wide  reading,  and  great  earnestness  in 
the  gospel  ministry. 

On  May  13,  1852,  the  church,  as  its  meagre  records 
show,  granted  the  pastor  three  months,  or  longer  if  neces- 
sary, to  visit  other  churches  in  the  State,  and  solicit  con- 
tributions towards  building  a  new  house  of  worship.  The 
pulpit  was  to  be  supplied  by  his  early  friend  and  fellow-stu- 
dent. Rev.  J.  K.  ]\Iendenhall.  We  know  that  in  his  private 
carriage  Mr.  Boyce  drove  over  large  portions  of  the  State. 


90  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

The  contributions  pledged  do  not  seem  to  have  been  suffi- 
cient at  that  time  for  the  purpose,  as  the  new  church  was 
not  built  till  several  years  later.  In  the  summer  of  this 
year  he  was  thinking  of  purchasing  a  certain  house  and 
fitting  it  up  for  his  residence.  In  April,  1853,  various 
letters  to  Mr.  Tupper  in  Charleston  contain  nothing  but 
requests  to  select  this  article,  and  order  that,  for  his 
house.  It  was  his  fancy  that  the  dwelling  should  be  com- 
pletely finished  and  furnished  when  his  young  wife  first 
entered  it;  and  those  who  knew  him  well  can  imagine  the 
pleasure  he  took  in  arranging  all  details  and  perfecting  all 
preparations  for  their  home  life.  Here  they  lived  for  more 
than  two  years,  delighting  to  entertain  their  friends  and 
kindred.  In  the  summer  of  1853  Mr.  Boyce  went  north- 
ward. He  had  stipulated  with  the  church  in  the  begin- 
ning that  he  should  have  one  month  of  vacation  every 
summer,  such  definite  arrangements  being  at  that  time 
rare  in  Southern  churches.  During  this  trip  to  the  North 
he  attended  the  meeting  of  his  class  at  Brown  University, 
now  six  3'ears  after  their  graduation,  and  took  the  degree 
of  A.  M.  in  course. 

On  Jan.  11,  1853,  the  church  records  show  that  the 
pastor  succeeded,  after  months  of  persuasion,  in  intro- 
ducing a  melodeon  to  help  the  singing;  and  the  next  year 
he  secured  a  choir-leader,  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars per  annum.  It  requires  time  and  patience  to  alter 
any  fixed  usage  of  a  Baptist  church ;  and  this  respect  for 
established  custom  is,  on  the  whole,  a  beneficial  check 
upon  the  action  of  a  thoroughly  free  organization  in  a 
period  enamoured  of  progress. 

Throughout  these  four  years  of  pastoral  work  at  Colum- 
bia, the  young  minister  was  encouraged  by  a  steady  growth 
of  the  little  church.  We  have  seen  that  the  white  people 
of  the  city  were  mainly  attached  to  other  churches,  and  so 
the  material  available  for  him  was  not  large.  But  there 
was  a  marked  increase  in  numbers,  and  still  more  in  lib- 


PASTOR  AT  COLUMBIA.  91 

erality  and  other  Christian  graces.  It  must  have  been 
especially  gratifying  that  he  was  enabled  to  get  a  strong 
hold  upon  the  colored  people.  We  have  seen  him  dwell- 
ing upon  this  subject  Mdien  editor,  and  exhorting  Mr. 
Tupper,  in  one  of  his  letters  from  Princeton,  to  work 
faithfully  among  the  negroes,  giving  them  much  oral 
explanation  of  the  Scriptures.  He  doubtless  pursued  this 
course  himself,  striving  not  only  to  touch  their  religious 
susceptibilities,  but  to  give  them  helpful  instruction  in 
the  Avay  of  salvation  and  the  fundamental  duties  of  a 
Christian  life.  A  wealthy  and  highly  educated  young 
minister  was  fitly  emj^loyed  in  such  labor  for  the  benefit 
of  the  slaves.  Nor  was  this  a  singular  case.  While  the 
reading  world  was  just  then  becoming  fascinated  and 
enkindled  b}^  the  high-wrought  pictures  of  '^  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,''  j^^^^^i^^^^d  in  1852,  and  deeply  impressed  with 
the  real  and  supposed  evils  of  slavery;  while  events  were 
rapidl}^  moving  towards  the  great  and  awful  conflict  of 
ten  3'ears  later,  numerous  ministers  throughout  the  South, 
chieflj^  Baptist  and  Methodist,  were  faithfully  laboring 
to  convert  and  instruct  the  vast  multitude  of  colored 
people  among  whom  they  found  themselves  called  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  By  no  means  all  was  done  that 
ought  to  have  been  done;  when  and  where  has  this  been 
the  case  about  anything  ?  But  thousands  and  ten  thou- 
sands of  Christian  men  and  women  did  feel  the  burden  of 
these  lowly  souls  laid  upon  themselves,  did  toil  faithfullj^ 
and  often  with  great  sacrifice  to  bring  them  to  the  Saviour, 
and  lovingly-  to  guide  their  weak  and  ignorant  steps  in 
the  paths  of  Christian  life.  Certainly  there  was  among 
them,  in  some  respects,  a  very  low  standard  of  Christian 
morality,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  ignorant  converts  of 
any  degraded  race.  But  there  are  many  still  living  who 
can  testify,  from  personal  observation  and  effort,  that  not 
a  few  of  these  negro  Christians  gave  real  and  gratifying 
evidence    of   being    Christians    indeed.      They  were    not 


92  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

black  angels,  as  some  romantic  readers  of  romance  half 
imagined,  nor  yet  black  demons,  as  some  who  hated  them 
then  and  now  would  have  us  believe;  they  were  and  are 
simply  black  men,  from  among  the  lowest  races  of  man- 
kind, yet  by  no  means  beyond  the  reach  of  saving  Chris- 
tian truth  and  loving  Christian  culture.  Some  of  us 
remember  them  with  strange  tenderness  of  feeling,  like 
that  of  foreign  missionaries  for  their  lowly  converts,  and 
find  it  painful  to  see  them  grossly  misrepresented,  either 
by  fanciful  eulog}''  or  foolish  censure.  And  now  that  the 
long  conflict  is  long  past,  and  we  are  facing  the  most 
remarkable  problem  that  any  civilized  nation  was  ever 
called  to  attempt,  —  the  problem  of  slowly  and  patiently 
lifting  these  people  up  to  all  they  can  reach,  —  it  were  well 
if  mutual  mis  judgments  could  be  laid  aside,  if  the  faithful 
work  of  many  Christians  in  those  trying  years  could  be 
on  all  sides  appreciated,  and  the  whole  undertaking  before 
us  could  be  estimated  in  part  by  its  best  results,  and  not 
simply  by  its  worst  difficulties. 

From  this  ministry  of  four  years  there  remain  notes  of 
several  sermons,  and  a  good  many  sermons  written  in 
full.  He  usually  prepared  by  making  a  rather  extended 
sketch, — what  lawyers  call- a  ''brief,"  —  which  he  kept 
before  him  when  speaking.  Most  of  these  were  allowed 
to  perish  in  the  course  of  years.  From  the  outset  we  find 
him  grasping  with  decided  vigor  the  thought  or  several 
thoughts  of  the  text,  explaining  and  strongly  vindicating 
the  great  doctrines  of  Scripture,  applying  the  truth  to  his 
hearers  with  direct  and  fervid  exhortation.  There  is  still 
not  much  of  illustration,  but  now  and  then  an  expanded 
figure  that  shows  imaginative  powers  worthy  to  be  oftener 
employed.  The  style  is  sometimes  negligent,  but  rarely 
fails  to  be  lucid  and  vigorous.  Above  all,  the  sermons 
show  a  man  very  anxious  to  do  good;  they  belong  to 
''an  earnest  ministry."  In  later  jears  we  shall  meet 
several  sermons  that  will  require  our  special  attention. 


TASTOR  AT   COLUMBIA.  93 

On  March  19,  1854,  occurred  the  deatli,  at  Coliimhia, 
of  Mr.  Ker  Boyce.  He  had  for  some  years  made  his  home 
at  KalDiia,  not  far  from  Aiken  and  Graniteville,  wliere 
he  had  a  delightful  residence,  shared  with  him  by  Mr. 
and  ]\[rs.  H.  A.  Tupper,  until  they  removed,  in  1853,  to 
\Yashington,  Ga.  Going  to  Columbia  on  a  visit  to  James, 
he  was  taken  ill  with  heart-troubles,  and  after  lingering 
ten  days  he  died  on  a  Sunday  at  midnight.  His  children 
had  all  gathered,  and  it  is  said  that  they  ''confidently 
expected  his  recover}^;  but  he  was  persuaded  of  his  ap- 
proaching death,  and  in  view  thereof  he  spoke  calml}^  and 
with  resignation,  expressing  his  hope  and  trust  in  the 
mercy  of  Christ."  Dr.  Tupper  says  that  during  their 
residence  together  at  Kalmia  he  showed  great  love  of 
the  Bible,  and  special  interest  in  the  family  worship, 
l^^umerous  letters  to  the  Tuppers  during  1850-1854  have 
been  preserved,  and  not  only  abound  in  the  warmest  ex- 
pressions of  fatherly  interest  and  affection,  but  often 
speak  in  a  distinctly  religious  tone. 

Obituaries  in  numerous  papers  of  South  Carolina  and 
other  States,  and  personal  recollections  of  various  friends, 
all  go  to  show  that  Ker  Boyce  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
abilities  and  character.  His  achievements  in  the  business 
world  would  necessarily  imply  this;  for  causes  have  to  be 
equal  to  effects,  and  he  who  has  through  a  long  life 
achieved  great  things  must  necessarily  be  at  least  in 
some  respects  a  great  man.  Mr.  Boyce  was  especially 
noted  for  his  insight  into  the  character  and  abilities  of 
men.  To  an  extent  quite  unknown  before  that  time  in 
Charleston,  he  trusted  his  business  associates  and  em- 
ployees. People  observed  that  notwithstanding  predic- 
tions to  the  contrary,  the  enterprises  in  which  he  was 
interested  almost  always  proved  successful;  and  it  slowly 
dawned  upon  them  that  he  was  safe  in  trusting  men, 
because  he  selected  men  who  could  be  trusted.  We  have 
already  seen  that  he  was  a  man  of  great  nerve  and  pluck, 


94  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

who  in  time  of  commercial  panic  never  feared,  but  held 
np  things.  It  is  said  that  he  had  an  extraordinary  mem- 
ory for  business  matters,  keeping  details  in  his  head,  and 
never  forgetting  his  business  engagements.  A  marked 
peculiarity  was  the  ease  with  which  he  left  all  business 
anxieties  behind  him  at  the  close  of  the  day.  He  some- 
times said  that  in  shutting  the  doors  of  his  bank  he  shut 
in  all  his  worries;  and  when  in  the  family  circle  you 
could  hardly  have  imagined  that  this  was  a  great  finan- 
cier, daily  engaged  in  large  transactions,  for  he  seemed 
as  lively  and  gay  as  the  children.  This  power  of  com- 
pletely throwing  off  one's  cares,  and  heartily  enjoying  the 
cheery  and  humorous  side  of  life,  has  been  observable  in 
many  of  those  who  have  endured  great  labors  and  carried 
through  great  undertakings  in  the  world.  After  the  death 
of  James  P.  Boyce,  his  colleague,  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  wrote 
as  follows  in  a  newspaper  article:  "M.y  memory,  as  a 
child,  of  Mr.  Ker  Boyce,  is  of  a  most  dignified,  vigorous, 
commanding  figure.  The  cast  of  his  countenance  and  the 
peculiar  compression  of  His  lips  indicated  settled  convic- 
tion and  determination,  while  his  penetrating  eye  showed 
the  intelligence  and  inquiring  mind  which  made  him  a 
power  in  the  city  and  the  State."  Portraits  show  that 
James  strikingly  resembled  his  father  in  personal  appear- 
ance; and  his  friends  are  well  aware,  as  his  whole  career 
shows,  that  there  was  also  a  marked  resemblance  in  many 
admirable  points  of  character. 

Mr.  Ker  Boyce  bequeathed  $20,000  to  the  Orphan  House 
in  Charleston, —  an  institution  highly  esteemed  in  the  city, 
—  and  $30,000  to  the  College  of  Charleston.  The  income 
of  this  latter  fund  was  to  be  used  in  aiding  need^^  students, 
who  were  chosen  by  his  son  James  as  long  as  lie  lived, 
and  are  now*  chosen  by  one  of  the  sisters.  His  large  estate 
was  left  under  the  control  of  a  son  only  twentj^-seven  j^ears 
old,  and  a  busy  and  faithful  minister  of  religion.  The 
associate  executors.   Judge  John  Belton  O'Neall,  Arthur 


PASTOR  AT  COLUMBIA.  95 

G.  Rose,  Esq.  (who  afterwards  went  to  live  in  England), 
and  James  A.  Whiteside,  of  Tennessee,  are  said  to  have 
never  taken  any  part  in  the  management,  fully  sharing  the 
father's  confidence  in  his  son.  This  confidence  was  the 
more  remarkable,  as  much  of  the  estate  was  to  continue  in 
the  hands  of  his  executors  for  many  years,  the  final 
division  not  to  be  made  till  the  youngest  grandson  should 
come  of  age.  Through  all  the  trying  losses  of  the  war  time, 
and  all  the  solicitudes  of  the  years  that  followed  to  the  end 
of  his  life,  the  executor  bore  these  burdens  of  weighty 
responsibility. 

It  was  inevitable  that  he  should  need  some  time  for 
undivided  attention  to  the  settlement  of  so  large  an  estate. 
Accordingly,  the  church  records  show  that  on  April  8, 
1854,  he  asked  and  obtained  leave  of  absence  from  pastoral 
duties  until  October,  '^at  which  time  he  hoped  to  be  able 
to  resume  them,''  his  salary  to  be  used  in  securing  a 
supply.  The  letters  of  that  summer  to  H.  A.  Tupper  are 
almost  entirely  occupied  with  business  details.  Indeed, 
from  this  time  forward  he  had  to  write  so  many  business 
letters  that  there  was  seldom  opportunity  for  speaking  of 
general  matters  such  as  would  interest  the  readers  of  a 
Memoir.  In  November  he  was  chosen  moderator  of  the 
Charleston  Association,  thus  for  the  first  time  called  to 
exercise  his  remarkable  powers  as  a  presiding  officer,  w^hich 
we  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  observe  hereafter.  In 
that  year  Rev.  Edwin  T.  Winkler  became  pastor  in  Charles- 
ton, having  previously  served  two  years  as  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  S.  B.  Publication  Society,  and  editor  of 
the  ^'Southern  Baptist."  The  frequent  meeting  thus 
occasioned  with  one  so  gifted  and  cultured  and  lovable 
must  have  been  a  great  pleasure  to  the  Columbia  pastor. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  came  out  Dr.  Thorn  well's  ^'Dis- 
courses on  Truth,"  a  small  volume  of  sermons  which  had 
been  delivered  in  the  chapel  of  South  Carolina  College. 
These  made  a  profound  impression  on  some  young  pastors 


96  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

of  that  day,  which  might  well  be  deepened  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Boyce  by  his  personal  acquaintance  with  the  author. 

Daring  that  winter  or  spring  there  were  probably 
negotiations  as  to  the  idea  of  Mr.  Bo^^ce's  becoming  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  in  Furman  University  at  Greenville, 
S.  C,  the  health  of  Professor  Mims  having  hopelessly 
failed  ;  for  the  church  records  show  that  on  April  29th 
Boyce  tendered  his  resignation,  to  take  effect  October  1st. 
The  church  earnestly  sought  to  prevent  this  dissolution  of 
the  pastoral  relation,  but  on  May  6th  they  accepted  his 
resignation,  with  unusual  expressions  of  regret  and  affec- 
tion. They  had  indeed  unusual  cause,  apart  from  the 
pastor's  personal  Avorth  ;  for  he  showed  his  interest  in  the 
struggling  church  of  which  he  had  for  four  years  been 
pastor,  by  proposing  to  contribute  $500  towards  a  salary  of 
$1200  for  his  successor.-^  We  know  also  of  a  promise  on 
his  part  to  contribute  $10,000  towards  a  new  house  of  wor- 
ship for  the  church,  whenever  they  should  be  prepared  to 
build, —  a  promise  dul}'-  carried  out  a  few  years  later.  It 
was  probably  in  the  autumn  of  1854  that  he  also  promised 
to  aid  in  building  a  new  church  on  Citadel  Square,  in 
Charleston.  Mr.  Burckmyer,  who  had  married  his  sister, 
was  about  to  be  baptized,  and  consulted  James  Boj^ce  and 
B.  C.  Pressley,  Esq.,  as  to  whether  he  should  join  the 
First  Church,  or  the  newer  church  on  Wentworth  Street. 
Pressley  said  he  should  do  neither,  but  took  them  out  to 
Citadel  Square,  and  showed  the  point  at  which  a  new  and 
elegant  church  building  ought  to  be  erected.  James 
approved  the  idea,  and  said  they  could  put  him  down  for 
$10,000.  The  movement  soon  began,  and  others  of  the 
Boyce  family  gave  $30,000  more  towards  erecting  what  was 
for  along  time,  and  is  perhaps  still, the  noblest  Baptist  house 
of  worship  in  the  South.  Let  it  not  be  imagined  that  our 
young  minister  was  thoughtlessly  giving  away  his  ample 

1  These  extracts  from  the  records  have  been  kindlj'-  furnished  by 
Rev.  W.  C.  Lindsey,  D.D.,  now  pastor  of  the  church  at  Columbia. 


PASTOR  AT  COLUMBIA.  97 

inheritance.     He  gave  with  reflection  and  foresight,  as  we 
shall  find  him  continuing  to  do  through  life. 

In  jVIay,  1855,  just  after  his  resignation  had  been 
accepted,  Mr.  Boyce  attended  the  Southern  Baptist  Con- 
vention (which  then  met  once  in  two  years)  at  Montgomery, 
Ala.  Some  of  us  were  on  the  long  journey  of  three  or  four 
daj^s  from  Central  Virginia,  by  way  of  Wilmington  and 
Augusta.  At  a  point  some  hours  west  of  Augusta,  a 
branch  road  came  in  from  Washington,  Ga.,  and  several 
passengers  came  aboard  the  train,  among  them  a  young 
man  of  large  figure  and  smooth,  youthful  face,  at  whose 
entrance  the  foreign  Mission  secretaries,  Dr.  James  B. 
Taylor  and  Dr.  A.  M.  Poindexter,  both  rose  eagerly,  and 
met  him  with  great  cordiality.  Presently  Poindexter 
came  and  sat  down  by  a  young  minister  of  the  company, 
and  said,  *' Yonder  is  a  man  I  want  you  to  know.  He 
is  a  minister  of  ability  and  thorough  education,  and  full 
of  noble  qualities.  His  father  was  a  man  of  great  wealth, 
and  he  is  now  very  generous  in  his  gifts.  He  is  going  to 
be  one  of  the  most  influential  of  all  Southern  Baptists.  I 
want  you  to  know  him."  At  the  introduction,  it  is  re- 
membered that  his  marked  heartiness  seemed  somehow 
a  little  clouded  by  a  certain  reserve.  It  was  not  thought 
by  the  person  introduced,  though  sometimes  thought  by 
others  in  after  years,  that  this  reserve  was  due  to  hauteur. 
All  w^ho  knew  him  well  soon  came  to  understand  that  he 
had  simply  such  a  contempt  for  all  affected  cordiality  as 
sometimes  to  go  just  a  little  towards  the  opposite  extreme, 
and  thus  be  slightly  misunderstood.  He  was  in  fact,  from 
youth  to  age,  the  soul  of  cordial  kindness.  At  Mont- 
gomery the  Convention  appointed  a  Committee  to  investi- 
gate some  controversy  between  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
and  Bev.  I.  J.  Boberts,  one  of  the  missionaries  to  China. 
The  details  of  the  controversy  would  be  of  no  importance 
now,  if  they  were  remembered.  The  Committee  examined 
very  carefully  the  whole  matter,  and  directed  Mr.  Boyce, 

7 


98  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

one  of  its  members,  to  draw  up  an  elaborate  report.  He 
sat  up  all  night  to  perform  the  task.  When  he  came  for- 
ward the  next  day  with  his  report,  his  commanding  figure, 
ringing  voice,  and  look  of  unpretending  genuineness 
and  broad  good  sense  made  an  impression  that  has  lasted; 
and  the  report  so  marshalled  the  facts,  and  explained  all 
the  matters  involved,  as  to  vindicate  the  Board,  without 
casting  any  painful  censure  upon  the  zealous  missionary. 
Poindexter  remarked  afterwards  that  he  had  scarcely  ever 
heard  a  report  of  a  committee  that  w^as  so  ably  written  and 
so  impressively  read.  Mr.  Bo^'^ce  was  then  twenty-eight 
years  old. 

It  may  be  well  enough  to  mention  that  at  this  meeting 
of  the  convention  some  of  us  for  the  first  time  encountered 
a  new  term,  and  an  idea  which  for  the  next  few  years 
awakened  no  small  controversy.  After  the  organization, 
some  one  offered,  as  usual,  a  resolution  inviting  ministers  of 
other  denominations  to  sit  with  us  and  participate  in  our 
deliberations.  This  was  at  once  sharply  objected  to,  and 
there  arose  a  debate  which  lasted  a  whole  daj^  Presently 
the  words  ^'Old  Landmark''  were  used;  and  some  of  us 
from  distant  portions  of  the  South,  upon  asking  what  in 
the  world  that  meant,  were  told  that  Rev.  J.  M.  Pendle- 
ton, of  Kentucky,  had  published  in  Nashville  a  tract 
entitled,  "An  Old  Landmark  Reset."  In  this  he  was 
said  to  have  maintained  that  it  was  a  former  custom  of 
Baptists  not  to  give  any  invitation  or  to  take  any  action 
which  might  seem  to  recognize  ministers  of  other  persua- 
sions as  in  a  just  sense  ministers.  These  were  also  the 
views  of  Rev.  J.  R.  Graves,  editor  of  the  "Tennessee  Bap- 
tist," published  at  Nashville.  These  honored  brethren, 
and  a  number  of  others  from  that  part  of  the  country, 
maintained  these  "Landmark"  views  with  great  earnestness 
and  ability.  Those  who  held  a  different  view  appeared  in 
many  cases  to  be  taken  by  surprise,  through  the  novelty, 
as  it  seemed  to  them,  of  the  "  Old  Landmark;  "  and  they 


PASTOR  AT  COLUMBIA.  90 

did  not  always  agree  among  themselves,  nor  maintain  any 
well-considered  or  very  consistent  position.  After  the 
day's  discussion,  it  \vas  proposed  to  end  the  matter  by 
letting  the  resolution  be  withdrawn,  upon  the  understand- 
ing that  those  who  saw  no  objection  to  its  passage  would 
concede  thus  much  to  the  views  of  their  brethren  who 
objected  so  strongly.  Some  present  thought  already  that 
there  was  no  such  extreme  difference  of  opinion  among  us 
as  appeared  to  exist.  The  controversy  in  the  next  few 
years  rose  high,  and  in  some  quarters  threatened  division. 
But  it  has  now  long  been  felt  by  most  brethren  that  we 
could  agree  to  disagree  upon  the  matters  involved,  and 
that  the  great  bulk  of  us  were  really  not  very  far  apart. 


100  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

PROFESSOR   OP   THEOLOGY   IN    FURMAN   UNIVERSITY. 

FURMAN  University  had  grown  out  of  the  Furman 
Academy  and  Theological  Institution,  opened  at 
Edgefield  Court-House,  in  January,  1827.^  The  South  Caro- 
lina Baptists  had  previously  aided  many  young  men  in 
preparing  for  the  ministry,  at  various  private  and  public 
institutions.  This  school  of  their  own  was  located  at 
Edgefield  in  the  hope  that  the  Georgia  Baptists  would 
unite  in  building  up  there  a  theological  seminary.  Two 
years  later  it  was  removed  to  the  High  Hills  of  Santee, 
as  exclusively  a  theological  school,  the  name  being  after- 
wards changed  to  the  Furman  Theological  Institution. 
The  professors  were  Jesse  Hartwell  and  Samuel  Furman, 
the  latter  being  a  son  of  the  famous  Richard  Furman, 
pastor  in  Charleston  during  the  Revolutionary  days  and 
afterwards,  in  whose  honor  the  institution  was  named. 
Various  attempts  were  made  to  combine  with  the  theologi- 
cal a  classical  school,  having  at  one  time  a  Manual  Labor 
feature.  The  theological  professors  for  some  years  were 
Rev.  William  Hooper,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Reynolds, 
D.D.,  who  both  became  eminent  men.  Professor  J.  S. 
Mims  was  elected  in  1842,  James  C.  Furman  in  1844,  and 
Peter  C.  Edwards  in  1846.  Mims  was  to  teach  Systematic 
Theology,  Edwards  the  Hebrew  Language  and  Biblical 
Exegesis,  and  Furman  to  teach  Sacred  Rhetoric  and  Pas- 
toral Duties,  and  Ecclesiastical  History.  In  1850  it  was 
decided  to  remove  the  institution  to  the  town  of  Green- 

1  See  an  excellent  historical  sketch   by  Professor  H.    T.    Cook  in 
the  "Baptist  Courier"  for  July  U,  1892. 


PROFESSOR  IN  FURMAN  UNIVERSITY.  101 

ville,  as  the  Theological  Department  of  a  new  Furman 
University,  which  was  opened  in  1851.  The  theological 
instruction  was  given  mainly  by  Professor  Mims,  as  Pro- 
fessors Furman  and  Edwards  were  chiefly  occupied  with 
the  instruction  of  the  general  classes  in  the  University. 
Professor  Mims  was  a  man  of  high  talents  and  good  educa- 
tion, diligent  in  study,  and  loved  as  a  teacher.  He  was 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  interrupted  in  his  youthful 
studies,  and  much  hindered  through  life,  by  rather  feeble 
health.  After  studying  some  time  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  and  at  the  Furman  Institution,  he  was 
graduated  at  the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  near 
Boston.  He  strongly  opposed  the  usual  Calvinistic  view 
as  to  the  doctrine  of  Imputation,  and  defended  himself 
before  the  Trustees  of  the  Furman  Institution  in  1848,  in 
a  caustic  address  on  ''Orthodoxy,"  which  was  published 
as  a  pamphlet.  This  probably  led  to  the  two  long  and 
elaborate  series  of  articles  on  Imputation  which  young 
James  Boyce  admitted  into  the  '' Southern  Baptist,"  while 
he  was  editor,  in  1849.  Professor  Mims's  health  quite  gave 
wa}^  during  the  session  of  1854—1855,  and  he  died  on 
June  14,  1855,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-eight.  Some 
books  that  came  from  his  collection  are  found  in  the  library 
of  the  S.  B.  T.  Seminary,  and  there  is  a  certain  touch  of 
inspiration,  a  trace  of  scholarly  enthusiasm  and  discrimi- 
nation, even  in  his  brief  marginal  notes. 

When  the  trustees  met,  in  July,  they  elected  James  P. 
Boyce  as  successor  to  Professor  Mims.  On  July  26  he 
wrote  to  H.  A.  Tupper,  then  in  Europe,  that  he  had  been 
appointed  professor,  and  had  accepted,  on  condition  that  he 
should  have  further  assistance,  and  added  that  on  Tupper's 
return  from  Europe  in  the  autumn  the  chair  of  Biblical 
Literature  and  Exegesis  would  be  offered  to  him.  Boyce 
quite  urges  his  friend  to  accept  the  position.  He  says 
there  are  four  students  in  the  theological  department,  and 
thinks  that  by  February  there  will  be  several  others,  while 


102  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

about  twenty  are  in  the  collegiate  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity, preparing  for  the  ministry.  Notwithstanding  the 
small  number  of  students,  there  had  been,  and  was,  a  high 
ambition  to  give  them  thorough  training.  Professor  Mims 
had  worn  himself  out  with  the  task.  Boyce  felt,  and 
judicious  friends  agreed  with  him,  that  alone  he  could  not 
possibly  do  the  requisite  teaching.  He  declared  himself 
willing  to  divide  the  salary  with  a  colleague,  or  to  yield  it 
all,  if  the  colleague  should  lack  other  means  of  support. 
He  wrote  again  to  Tupper,  on  September  29,  after  begin- 
ning his  work :  ''I  cannot  teach  more  than  half  the  classes 
next  term  "  (when  there  would  be  more  students  and  more 
classes).  Mr.  Tupper  reached  Charleston  in  October,  and 
at  Boyce's  request  met  him  in  Columbia  to  consult.  But 
he  felt  obliged  to  decline,  because  unwilling  (as  he  wrote 
to  President  J.  C.  Furman)  to  sever  the  ''sacred  and  happy 
relation"  that  bound  him  to  the  church  at  Washington, 
Ga.,  ''or  to  exchange  in  a  measure  the  office  of  preaching 
for  that  of  teaching."  Thus  Boyce  was  left  to  struggle 
on  unaided  through  his  first  session.  It  is  stated  by  stu- 
dents of  the  time  that  he  actually  taught  five  hours  a  day, 
and  some  days  six  hours.  To  prepare  all  these  lessons, 
with  his  high  standard  of  thoroughness  and  kindling  am- 
bition, was  a  severe  task,  to  be  sure.  Dr.  John  Mitchell, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  was  a  tutor  in  the  University 
that  year,  says  that  Boyce  "was  industrious,  laborious, 
and  made  a  fine  impression  as  a  teacher  from  the  first." 

Indeed,  Furman  University  was  the  seat  of  much  thor- 
ough study  and  high  teaching.  Great  advantages  are 
enjoyed  by  the  students  and  professors  of  a  large  and 
amply  endowed  institution,  and  nothing  wiser  or  nobler 
can  be  done  by  generous  givers  than  to  build  up  such 
endowments.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  very 
large  part  of  the  best  educational  work  that  has  been  done 
in  our  new  country  was  performed  by  small  institutions, 
in  which  a  few  struggling  professors,  ambitious  that  their 


PROFESSOK   IN  FURMAN  UNIVERSITY.  103 

students  should  lack  for  nothing  in  the  way  of  instruc- 
tion, were  doing  each  two  men's  work  on  half  of  one 
man's  salary,  and  really  got  closer  to  the  students,  got 
hold  of  tliem  more  strongly  and  impressively,  by  reason 
of  not  being  too  far  in  advance  of  them,  because  all 
were  toiling  and  struggling  on  together.  Every  limita- 
tion and  disadvantage  in  life  has  certain  compensations 
where  the  men  concerned  possess  real  talent  and  kin- 
dling aspiration. 

President  James  C.  Furman,  D.D.,  son  of  the  Eichard 
Furman  after  whom  the  institution  was  named,  had  as 
a  young  preacher  enjoyed  very  remarkable  success  in 
numerous  revival  meetings  at  important  points  in  the 
Carolinas.  He  was  for  some  years  pastor  of  the  singularly 
interesting  community  about  Society  Hill,  S.  C,  in  the 
region  lying  between  'Columbia  and  Wilmington.  He 
greatly  longed  to  be  only  a  preacher  and  pastor,  as  was 
true  of  some  others  who  have  felt  compelled  to  yield  their 
preference,  and  spend  their  lives  in  aiding  the  preparatory 
studies  of  their  ministerial  brethren.  When  first  elected 
professor  in  the  Furman  Institution,  he  declined;  but  he 
accepted  in  1843,  and  remained  in  connection  with  the  Insti- 
tution, and  afterwards  University,  until  his  death  in  1890. 
Dr.  Furman  was  a  man  of  high  and  varied  talents  and 
accomplishments,  a  very  winning  and  impressive  preacher, 
and  a  very  lucid  and  engaging  teacher.  His  singularly 
mild  and  gentle  tones  of  voice  and  his  general  bearing 
really  harmonized  perfectly  with  his  force  of  character  and 
strong  convictions.  Had  he  possessed  higher  bodily  health 
to  endure  the  immense  labor  of  wide  study  and  varied 
teaching,  and  had  he  been  gifted  with  a  more  resolute  and 
commanding  tone  in  public  speech,  he  would  have  been 
generally  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  coun- 
try. Numerous  students,  through  almost  fifty  years,  have 
felt  more  and  more  with  the  unfolding  of  their  own  ex- 
perience how  great  a  privilege  they  had   enjoyed  in  his 


104  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

ripe  instruction  and  his  cliarming  personal  influence  and 
example. 

C.  H.  Judson,  tbe  Professor  of  Mathematics,  had  been 
educated  at  H  imilton  and  the  University  of  Virginia,  and 
had  become  professor  in  Furman  University  upon  its 
establishment  in  1851.  The  plan  of  organization  of  the 
University,  which  was  adopted  the  next  year,  was  chiefly 
prepared  by  Professor  Judson,  upon  avov/ed  comparison  with 
the  documents  published  by  the  University  of  Virginia 
and  by  Brown  University,  which  had  in  1850  changed  its 
curriculum  into  a  number  of  separate  schools.  Professor 
Judson  remarkably  combines  a  special  talent  for  metaphysi- 
cal thinking,  extraordinary  gifts  as  a  mathematician,  and 
uncommon  energy  and  skill  in  practical  business  affairs. 
As  treasurer,  he  helped  to  carry  the  University  through 
many  yeavs  of  trial,  before  and  after  the  war.  As  teacher 
of  mathematics,  he  has  always  been  remarkable  for  very 
clear  statement,  given  in  a  forcible  and  cogent  way,  and 
with  an  enthusiasm  for  the  subject  which  his  quiet  man- 
ner did  not  prevent  from  kindling  the  susceptible  student, 
—  a  combination  making  up  a  great  teacher  of  mathe- 
matics. He  was  also  at  this  time  teaching  the  School  of 
Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy,  and  the  School  of 
Chemistry  and  Naturrl  History. 

Professor  Peter  C.  Edwards,  born  near  Society  Hill,  S.  C, 
had  been  graduated  in  South  Carolina  College  and  the 
Newton  Theological  Institution.  He  was  now  a  laborious 
Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in  the  University,  and 
had  little  time  for  the  instruction  in  Biblical  Exegesis 
which  he  had  formerly  given  in  Furman  Institution.  A 
ma.n  of  strong  intellect,  great  powers  of  imagination, 
and  depth  of  feeling,  he  was  an  enthusiastic  student 
and  teacher,  but  was  comparatively  deficient  in  practical 
knowledge  and  practical  judgment.  Upon  some  thor- 
oughly congenial  and  in  itself  kindling  theme  he  would 
preach  a  sermon  of  wonderful   charm  and  power,   while 


PROFESSOR   IN  FURMAN  UNIVERSITY.  105 

most  of  his  discourses  failed  to  interest  the  average  li carer. 
A  question  about  some  favorite  theory  of  Greek  syntax 
would  lead  him  off  into  endless  and  impassioned  disqui- 
sitions, quite  unsuspecting  that  a  lad  who  did  not  know 
his  lesson  had  raised  that  question  to  stop  the  recitation. 
All  who  knew  Professor  Edwards  well,  greatly  admired  and 
loved  him,  and  students  naturally  inclined  to  the  study  of 
language  found  him  a  most  inspiring  teacher. 

With  the  able  Professor  W.  B.  Eoyall  as  head  of  the 
Academic  Department,  and  John  Mitchell  as  tutor,  — 
afterwards  Thomas  Hall,  J.  B.  Patrick,  John  F.  Lanneau, 

—  the  University  was  prepared  to  do,  and  really  was 
doing,  much  first-rate  work  in  teaching.  Our  ambitious 
and  laborious  young  Professor  of  Theology  had  come  into 
a  busy  workshop. 

The  previous  professors  —  Hooper,  Rejmolds,  and  Minis 

—  had  taken  more  interest  in  the  directly  Biblical  studies 
than  in  Systematic  Theology.  Boyce  was  most  interested 
and  best  prepared  in  Systematic  Theology  and  cognate 
subjects;  and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  the  excess  of  labor, 
he  greatly  desired  a  colleague  for  the  Biblical  work;  but 
meantime  he  went  on  faithfull}^  teaching  all  the  subjects. 
Professor  Mims's  course  had  been  arranged  for  two  years; 
Boj^ce  proposed  to  insert  a  previouir  '^  undergraduate  year," 
in  which  for  six  months  before  the  Commencement  the  col- 
lege students  for  the  ministry  would  give  some  attention 
to  Hebrew  and  Biblical  History.  Among  the  little  group 
of  students  was  Eev.  John  G.  Williams,  who  has  long 
been  a  popular  mftiister  in  South  Carolina.  He  writes  as 
follows :  — 

''  Dr.  Boyce  taught  us  Systematic  Tlieology  (using  Dick's 
Theology  as  a  text-book),  Church  History,  Greek  New  Testament 
Exegesis,  and  Hebrew.  It  was  easy  to  see  then  that  Theology 
was  his  strong  point,  and  had  already  taken  a  strong  hold  on  him. 
I  thought  his  leetnros  — which  he  required  us  to  take  down  —  on 
one  of  the  Gospels  were  very  able,  and  have  always  regretted  that  I 


106  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

lost  my  notes  of  them  during  the  late  war,  with  the  greater  part  of 
my  library.  Dr.  Boyce  impressed  me  as  being  a  very  hard  student, 
and  one  who  had  found  his  true  calling  as  a  theological  professor. 
It  was  a  calling  that  stirred  his  enthusiasm  and  brought  out  his  real 
power,  thus  proving  that  this  was  to  be  his  life-work.  Dr.  Boyce 
was  always  interesting,  thorough,  and  patient  as  a  teacher.  He 
took  great  interest  in  us,  and  we  felt  that  he  was  our  friend.  We 
went  to  his  recitation-room,  which  was  in  his  own  house,  with  the 
feeling  that  we  were  not  only  going  there  to  be  taught,  but  to  have  a 
good  time  with  a  warm-hearted,  sympathizing  friend  and  brother." 

Mr.  Williams  remembers  among  his  fellow-students  at 
the  time  A.  K.  Durham,  John  Morrall,  and  J.  B.  Hartwell. 
The  last  was  a  son  of  Jesse  Hartwell  (an  early  professor 
in  the  Eurman  Institution),  and  lias  labored  as  a  mission- 
ary in  China,  and  of  late  to  the  Chinese  in  California. 
During  Boyce's  second  year  J.  F.  B.  Mays,  of  Virginia, 
was  a  theological  student,  and  there  were  .  some  others 
whose  names  cannot  now  be  recovered. 

When  formally  inaugurated  in  July,  1856,  he  delivered 
an  inaugural  address  entitled  "  Three  Changes  in  Theologi- 
cal Institutions,"  of  which  we  shall  have  much  to  say  in 
the  next  chapter.  The  young  professor,  still  only  twenty- 
nine  years  old,  and  convinced  that  he  was  to  speak  on 
vital  themes  at  a  time  of  crisis,  prepared  this  address  with 
great  care.  Three  distinct  forms  of  it  appear  among  his 
manuscripts. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Board  in  July,  E.  T.  Winkler 
was  elected  to  be  adjunct  professor  of  theology  and  of  the 
ancient  languages,  which  would  have  made  him  a  helper 
to  Professor  Edwards  also.  He  declined,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing January  H.  A.  Tupper  was  again  elected  to  the 
same  position,  and  again  declined.  We  can  easily  see 
now  that  this  series  of  disappointments,  fixing  the  convic- 
tion that  he  could  not  carry  out  his  cherished  plans  in  a 
theological  department  for  a  single  State,  was  steadily 
leading  Professor  Boyce  on  towards  the  foundation  of  a 


PROFESSOR  IN   FURMAN   UNIVERSITY.  107 

general  theological  seminary  for  Southern  Baptists,  for 
which  the  way  had  been  preparing  through  a  dozen  years. 
Four  months  after  this  last  failure  to  get  a  colleague,  he 
was  at  the  educational  convention  in  Louisville,  throwing 
his  whole  soul  into  the  project  of  establishing  a  common 
theological  seminary  at  Greenville. 

Dr.  H.  A.  Tupper  would  have  made  an  uncommonly 
accurate  and  enthusiastic  instructor  in  Hebrew  and  other 
Biblical  studies.  He  mentioned  in  New  York  to  the 
famous  Dr.  T.  J.  Conant,  who  had  been  his  teacher  at 
Hamilton,  that  he  had  been  asked  to  consider  a  Hebrew 
professorship,  and  had  declined,  because  no  Hebraist.  Dr. 
Conant  gave  a  noteworthy  reply:  ^' You  made  a  mistake. 
No  professor  knows  much  of  his  chair  when  he  first  takes 
it."  Doubtless  every  professor  feels  thus,  whether  he 
begins  teaching  in  youth  or  in  later  years.  We  may 
add  a  companion  saying  of  Dr.  Gessner  Harrison,  of  the 
University  of  Virginia:  ''A  man  ought  to  stop  teaching  a 
subject  when  he  stops  learning  it." 

In  February,  1857,  Boyce  writes  to  Mr.  Tupper  that  he 
had  been  asked  to  consider  an  election  as  President  of 
Mercer  University,  but  did  not  encourage  the  idea.  He  is 
thinking  of  a  trip  to  Europe  as  soon  as  he  is  free,  ''  either 
through  resignation  or  additional  help  in  the  theological 
department,  or  the  establishment  of  a  Central  Institu- 
tion." The  Mercer  appointment  was  urged  upon  him 
again  in  May,  after  the  Louisville  educational  convention, 
with  a  salary  of  $2,500,  which  for  that  time  and  region  was 
remarkable;  but  he  positively  declined.  In  August  he  was 
formally  and  unanimously  elected  to  Mercer,  but  declined. 
Brethren  were  beginning  to  see  clearly  that  here  was  a  man 
capable  of  bringing  things  to  pass,  and  they  wanted  him. 

Professor  Boyce  reallj^  taught  in  Purman  University 
only  two  years.  In  July,  1857,  he  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion; but  the  Board  requested  him  to  retain  the  office  of 
professor,  and  use  his  time  as  he  should  think  proper.    He 


108  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

spent  a  considerable  part  of  the  next  eight  months  in  trav- 
elling through  the  State  to  raise  an  endowment  for  the 
projected  theological  seminary.  About  this  period,  or 
somewhat  later,  he  gave  gratuitous  instruction  in  several 
subjects  in  the  Greenville  Female  College, — for  which 
the  trustees  voted  him  their  thanks  in  1860,  —  and  for 
one  year  gratuitously  discharged  the  duties  of  President  of 
that  institution. 

Among  his  sermons  we  find  one  on  the  recent  death  of 
A.  P.  Butler,  United  States  Senator  from  South  Carolina, 
who  died  May  25,  1857.  The  sermon  was  probabl}^  delivered 
in  Greenville,  where  some  relatives  of  the  Senator  were 
personal  friends  of  the  j^reacher.  Judge  Butler  w^as  a  man 
of  very  high  character,  greatly  honored  and  beloved,  and 
since  the  death  of  Mr.  Calhoun  he  had  been  very  generally 
looked  up  to  as  a  great  bulwark  and  defender  of  the  State 
in  the  senatorial  conflicts.  Mr.  Boyce  was  by  no  means 
given  to  high-wrought  eulogium,  but  he  speaks  in  strong 
terms  of  the  Senator's  elevated  character,  intellectual  re- 
sources, and  patriotic  spirit,  adding  as  follows:  ''Well 
may  the  State  mourn  to-day  the  loss  of  such  a  man.  Pure 
in  patriotism,  prudent  in  counsel,  pre-eminent  above  all  his 
contemporaries  in  that  peculiar  eloquence  which  silences 
and  rebukes  with  withering  sarcasm  the  false  charges  of 
Tinworthy  foes,  —  in  these  days  of  misconception,  if  not  of 
aspersion,  of  dangers  from  within  and  from  without,  the 
loss  of  no  man  in  the  national  councils  could  be  felt  to  be 
more  serious.  Especially  may  Carolina  mourn  the  loss 
of  her  wise  and  noble  son,  of  her  peerless  and  invincible 
champion."  A  year  before  his  death.  Senator  Butler 
had  been  the  subject  of  a  very  bitter  personal  attack  in  a 
speech  from  Senator  Charles  Sumner.  AYhether  he  had  pro- 
voked this  by  something  of  his  own  ''withering  sarcasm," 
we  know  not.  But  Mr.  Sumner  was  famous  for  terrific 
invective,  and  it  is  well  remembered  that  he  attacked  Mr. 
Butler  in  terms  so  personal  and  insulting  as  to  be  thought 


PROFESSOR  IN  FURMAN   UNIVERSITY.  109 

by  tlie  latter's  friends  simply  intolerable.  Butler  was 
sixty  years  old,  and  in  feeble  health.  It  was  these  cir- 
cumstances which  led  his  nephew,  Preston  S.  Brooks,  a 
member  of  the  lower  House,  to  determine  that  he  would 
avenge  the  insulting  assault  upon  his  uncle  by  physical 
chastisement  of  Mr.  Sumner.  Weary  of  waiting  for  him 
to  come  forth,  Brooks  finally  rushed  into  the  Senate  cham- 
ber, after  adjournment,  and  assailed  Senator  Sumner  wdth 
a  cane  as  he  sat  writing  in  his  seat.  This  unjustifiable 
course  turned  a  very  general  tide  of  sympathy  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Sumner,  and  has  caused  it  to  be  frequently  overlooked 
that  the  famous  Senator  sometimes  indulged  his  powers 
of  invective  in  w^ays  quite  overpassing  the  limits  of  pro- 
priety. How  often  men  forget,  in  the  heated  animosities 
of  discussion,  that  it  is  a  cheap  thing  to  be  personally 
insulting,  instead  of  convincing  by  earnest  argument.  If 
we  are  to  have  an  end  to  phj^sical  assaults,  as  is  so  much 
to  be  desired,  there  ought  to  be  at  least  some  limit  to 
verbal  assaults.  The  hot  passions  of  the  period  referred 
to  —  four  years  before  the  war  —  are  revealed  by  the  fact 
that  many  men  in  Carolina  and  elsewhere  not  only  excused, 
but  unreservedly  commended  Mr.  Brooks's  entire  course, 
and  many  at  the  North  glorified  Mr.  Sumner  as  a  martyr 
to  free  speech,  without  ever  tolerating  the  suggestion  that 
all  the  same  he  had  grievously  insulted  an  aged  and  feeble 
Senator  of  the  highest  character.  Even  at  the  present  day 
it  is  difficult  to  look  back  upon  that  period  of  varied  con- 
flict and  judge  fairly  of  one  side  or  the  other. 

During  these  yenvs  Mr.  Boyce  also  took  interest  in  agri- 
culture, as  his  home  in  the  edge  of  Greenville  readied  out 
into  several  fields  of  arable  land.  An  agricultural  monthly 
of  February,  1858,  reported  that  in  Greenville  District  Pro- 
fessor James  P.  Boyce  made  on  one  acre  fifty  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds  of  ruta-baga  turnips  and 
tops,  and  the  men  are  named  who  weighed  them.     It  also 


110  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  F.  BOYCE. 

states  that  of  wheat  he  made  forty -four  bushels  and  a  peck 
to  the  acre,  —  a  remarkable  yield  for  the  soil  of  that  region, 
better  suited  to  corn  and  cotton  than  to  wheat.  He  also 
took  interest  in  the  introduction  of  improved  stock;  yet 
not  as  a  mere  gratification,  for  everything  must  pay,  so 
that  others  might  be  encouraged  to  do  likewise. 


SOUTHEUN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.      Ill 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY.  1 

THE  idea  of  a  common  theological  institution  for  all 
Southern  Baptists  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been 
first  suggested  by  the  eminent  South  Carolina  minister, 
Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson,  while  others  ascribe  it  to  the  equally 
distinguished  Dr.  K.  B.  C.  Howell,  of  Tennessee,  and  Dr. 
J.  B.  Jeter,  of  Virginia.  It  had  doubtless  arisen  inde- 
pendently in  the  minds  of  various  brethren  in  different 
States;  and  things  were  slowly  preparing  for  the  movement 
in  many  ways.^ 

Nearly  every  Baptist  College  at  the  South  had  at  one 
time  a  theological  department,  like  that  of  Eurman  Uni- 
versity, in  which  James  P.  Boyce  taught.  Indeed,  several 
of  them  were  begun  as  simply  theological  institutions,  and 
afterwards  grew  into  colleges  (frequently  called  univer- 
sities, because  it  was  hoped  they  would  finally  reach  that 
character),  commonly  retaining  the  theological  department, 
though  sometimes  dropping  it.     Thus,  when  the  Baptist 

1  Some  readers  will  be  likely  to  exercise,  in  regard  to  tliis  and  the 
next  chapter,  what  Sir  Walter  calls  "a  faculty  of  judicious  skipping." 
But  persons  interested  in  the  Seminary,  or  in  the  general  matter  of 
theological  education,  may  like  to  have  the  historical  sketch  here 
given. 

2  A  brief  historical  sketch  of  these  preparatory  events  was  prefixed 
by  Dr.  Boyce  to  the  Seminary's  first  catalogue  ;  and  another  was  j)ub- 
lished  by  Dr.  Manly  in  the  "  Seminary  Magazine  "  for  December,  1891. 
Other  materials  have  been  drawn  from  various  sources  and  from  personal 
recollection.     ' 


112  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Seminary  at  Eichmond,  Va.,  was  about  to  be  re-organized 
as  Kichmond  College,  a  Baptist  member  of  the  Legislature 
earnestly  and  successfully  urged  that  they  should  drop  the 
theological  department,  on  the  ground  that  for  the  Legis- 
lature to  incorporate  a  theological  institution  squinted 
towards  a  union  of  Church  and  State,  —  so  great  was  the 
sensitiveness  on  that  subject  which  had  survived  in  Vir- 
ginia from  the  fierce  conflicts  of  half  a  century  before. 
The  legislator  in  question  insisted  that  young  preachers 
should  study  the  Bible  and  theology  under  the  guidance 
of  older  pastors,  or  that  seminaries  for  the  purpose  could 
be  conducted  without  incorporation.  This  sensitiveness 
passed  away,  and  several  theological  seminaries  of  other 
denominations  were  afterwards  incorporated  in  Virginia. 
In  most  States  the  theological  department  was  retained, 
sometimes  with  two  professors,  as  we  have  seen  Boyce 
anxious  to  have  it,  but  oftener  with  only  one.  Much 
earnest  and  helpful  work  was  done  for  small  classes  in 
these  various  institutions,  yet  there  were  obvious  and  very 
serious  difficulties,  often  keenly  felt  by  the  struggling 
professor  himself.  Several  of  these  professors  were  among 
the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  establishment  of  a  com- 
mon seminary,  though  each  naturally  wished  that  the 
institution  with  which  he  was  connected  might  become 
the  nucleus  for  such  a  new  organization. 

When  Basil  Manly,  Jr.,  graduated  in  1844  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Alabama  (of  which  his  father,  Basil  Manly,  Sr., 
was  president),  and  determined  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry,  the  question  how  he  could  be  best  prepared  for 
the  work  was  earnestly  discussed  between  his  father  and 
Dr.  John  L.  Dagg,^  then  Professor  of  Theology  in  Mercei 
University  at  Penfield,  Ga.  (since  removed  to  Macon). 

1  Dr.  Dagg  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  lovable  character.  His 
works  are  worthy  of  thorough  study,  especially  his  small  volume,  "  A 
]\Ianual  of  Theology"  (Amer.  Bap.  Pub.  Soc),  which  is  remarkable 
for  clear  statement  of  the  profoundest  truths,  and  for  devotional  sweet- 


SOUTHERN   BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       113 

Dr.  Dagg,  wliile  residing  in  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  had  been 
associated  with  young  Manly's  early  religious  experience, 
so  that  the  latter  was  inclined  to  study  theology  at  Mercer 
under  his  direction.  ''But  he  advised,"  says  the  narra- 
tive above  mentioned,  "with  characteristic  earnestness 
and  fidelity,  that  I  should  not  content  myself  with  that, 
but  should  seek  at  once  the  best  advantages  and  the  fullest 
course  that  could  be  procured.  These,  it  was  agreed,  could 
be  found  then  at  the  i^Iewton  Theological  Institution,  near 
Boston,  Mass.  When  the  disruption  of  1845  occurred 
between  ]S'orthern  and  Southern  Baptists,  in  their  volun- 
tary missionary  organizations,  —  for  the  division  extended 
onl}^  to  these,  and  never  to  the  actual  relations  of  the 
churches,  — it  led  to  the  withdrawal  from  Xewton  of  the 
four  Southern  students  who  were  there,  S.  C.  Clopton,  E. 
T.  Winkler,  J.  W.  M.  Williams,  and  myself.  The  other 
three  went  directly  into  ministerial  work,^  while  I  deter- 
mined, as  I  was  younger,  to  prosecute  further  preparatory 
study,  and  went,  under  the  advice  of  my  father,  of  Dr. 
Dagg,  of  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  and  other  friends,  to 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  .  .  .  There  was  not  at 
that  period  an  institution  at  the  South  where  anything 
like  a  full  theological  course  could  be  enjoyed.  It  was 
felt  that  that  state  of  things  ought  not  to  remain  so. 
Articles  were  written  in  the  leading  papers  by  a  number  of 
eminent  brethren  bearing  on  the  question,  and  suggesting 
different  plans  for  relieving  the  situation." 

During  the  meeting  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  1845,  at  which 
it  was  decided  to  organize  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 

ness.  The  writer  of  this  Memoir  may  be  paixloned  for  bearing  witness 
that  after  toiling  much,  in  his  early  years,  as  a  pastor,  over  Knapp  and 
Turrettin,  Dwight  and  Andrew  Fuller,  and  other  elaborate  theologians, 
he  found  this  manual  a  delight,  and  has  felt  through  life  the  pleasing 
impulse  it  gave  to  theological  inquiry  and  reflection.  A  stepson  of 
Dr.  Dagg  is  the  eminent  professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University 
of  Virginia,  Dr.  Noah  K.  Davis. 

1  They  had  all  been  at  Newton  two  years,  Manly  but  one. 

8 


114  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

tion,  a  conference  of  brethren  from  various  States  was  held, 
to  consider  the  question  of  establishing  a  theological 
seminary  of  a  high  order.  In  1847,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Indian  Mission  Association,  held  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  the 
subject  was  again  discussed  by  prominent  brethren  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  When  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  was  to  meet  on  May  2,  1849,^  at  Nashville, 
Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson  tried  to  secure  a  meeting  of  South 
Carolina  delegates,  at  Aiken,  on  their  way  to  Nashville, 
to  consult  about  this  matter,  and  with  a  view  to  put  for- 
ward the  Furman  Theological  Institution  as  the  nucleus 
of  a  common  seminary;  but  this  meeting  was  prevented  by 
the  .general  abandonment  of  the  trip  to  Nashville.  The 
trustees  of  Mercer  University  took  action  about  the  same 
time,  favoring  the  idea  of  a  concentration  upon  that  in- 
stitution. Some  scattered  cases  of  cholera  in  Nashville 
excited  an  alarm  in  distant  States,  being  magnified  into 
an  epidemic,  and  kept  away  many  of  those  who  would  have 
attended  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  at  that  place. 
But  in  the  meeting  there  held,  it  is  stated  by  Basil  Manly, 
Jr.,  that  '^Brethren  E.  B.  C.  Howell  and  J.  R.  Graves, 
whom  I  then  met  for  the  first  time,  were  both  enthu- 
siastic and  zealous  for  the  establishment  of  the  new  insti- 
tution. In  fact,  they  thought  the  very  time  had  come." 
Young  Manly  considered  that  matters  were  scarcely  ripe 
for  this  desirable  enterprise,  and  was  challenged  by  Brother 
Graves,  who  was  already  a  skilled  and  renowned  debater, 
to  discuss  the  matter  before  the  Convention.  He  declined 
the  discussion,  and  gives  the  following  reasons:  '^I  did 
not  want  to  be  put  into  the  false  position  of  antagonizing 
the  progressive  movement  for  theological  education,  which 
I  earnestly  favored ;  and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  I  dreaded 

1  Its  first  regular  meeting  was  held  at  Richmond  in  1846.  Being  at 
first  triennial,  like  the  old  Triennial  Convention  of  Baptists  of  the 
whole  country,  its  next  meeting  fell  in  1849.  Afterwards  it  became 
biennial,  and  of  late  years  annual. 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       115 

to  cope  with  so  vigorous  and  able  an  opponent  as  Brother 
Graves  in  an  extempore  debate." 

The  Nashville  Convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  Charles- 
ton on  May  23.  In  anticipation  of  this  meeting  in  Charles- 
ton the  "  Southern  Baptist,"  of  which  Boyce  was  just  then 
ceasing  to  be  editor,  republished  two  elaborate  articles  on 
this  question  from  the  *' Monthly  Miscellany/'  edited  in 
Georgia  by  Joseph  S.  Baker.  The  first  article  was  from 
E.  B.  C.  Howell,  D.D.,  then  pastor  in  !N"ashville.  He 
recognizes  that  many  men  have  been,  and  many  will  be, 
very  useful  in  the  ministry,  without  formal  education  at 
college  or  seminary.  But  he  argues  that  the  progress  of 
general  knowledge,  the  necessity  of  encountering  trained 
ministers  of  other  denominations,  the  demand  of  many  of 
our  churches  for  better-prepared  pastors,  all  combine  to 
require  a  larger  proportion  of  thoroughly  educated  Baptist 
ministers.  He  proposes  a  union  of  all  existing  Baptist 
theological  schools  in  the  Southern  States  at  some  central 
and  accessible  point;  and  if  this  be  found  impracticable, 
a  new  theological  institution.  This  article  was  replied 
to  in  the  May  number  of  the  "  Miscellany ''  by  Robert 
Ryland,  President  of  E-ichmond  College.  He  argues  that 
a  great  central  theological  school  is  impracticable,  for  it 
would  require  $100,000,  which  cannot  be  had  ;  and  as 
the  inevitable  failure  of  the  attempt  would  produce  general 
discouragement,  he  thinks  the  scheme  had  better  be 
abandoned.  He  also  inclines  to  regard  a  good  college 
course  as  the  main  thing,  since  a  man  of  trained  mind 
could  study  theology  for  himself,  as  many  had  been  doing 
with  great  advantage.  He  remarks  upon  the  impatience 
of  the  young  men,  as  often  preventing  a  sufficiently  long 
attendance  upon  college,  and  a  great  theological  school 
would  only  increase  the  difficulty.  This  last,  it  may  be 
observed,  is  really  one  of  the  grave  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  American  theological  education,  and  particularly  in  the 
far  Southern  States,  wdiere  the  young  grow  up  so  early,  and 


116  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

are    so  impatient  to  enter  upon  the  permanent  relations 
of  life.  , 

At  the  Charleston  meeting  of  the  Convention,  Bojce 
was  one  of  the  delegates,  and  Basil  Manly,  Jr.,  was 
Assistant  Secretary.  At  a  special  and  separate  educa- 
tional meeting.  Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson,  President  of  the 
S.  B.  Convention,  read  an  elaborate  essay  in  favor  of 
establishing  a  central  theological  institution.  Young 
Manly  made  an  address  upon  the  subject,  the  notes  of 
which  he  published  in  the  ^'Seminary  Magazine"  (iit 
siqjra).  In  this  he  stated  that  there  were  then  seven 
theological  professors,  in  as  many  Southern  Baptist  insti- 
tutions, having  in  all  about  thirty  students.  He  argued 
the  great  advantage  of  a  single  central  institution  for 
economy  and  for  efficiency.  Some  of  his  points  under 
the  latter  head  ought  to  be  quoted,  as  showing  how 
thoroughly  the  subject  was  understood  by  the  men  en- 
gaged in  promoting  the  jjroject.  "  (a)  A  division  of  labor 
can  be  had,  so  that  the  professors  can  give  better  and 
more  thorough  instruction,  each  taking  his  special  siTbject. 
.  .  .  (c)  A  larger  number  of  professors,  with  their  varied 
characteristics  and  excellences,  would  exert  a  stronger 
influence,  and  one  not  so  liable  to  produce  one-sided 
development,  on  the  students.  Strong  and  good  men 
form  their  pupils,  not  only  by  what  they  teach,  but  by 
what  they  are  ;  and  the  more  of  such  men  we  have 
together,  the  larger  the  benefit,  (cl)  The  mutual  acquaint- 
ance of  a  large  body  of  students,  gathered  from  different 
parts  of  our  country,  would  have  a  strong  tendency  to  pro- 
mote a  general  union  of  Baptists  in  all  good  things,  and 
to  keep  down  local  or  sectional  peculiarities  and  jealousies. 
(e)  It  would  afford  greater  stimulus  to  study  if  the  stu- 
dents came  into  contact  with  the  picked  men  of  a  wider 
area,  enjoying,  many  of  them,  the  advantages  of  higher 
culture;  and  this  would  be  more  beneficial  to  them  than 
if  they  met  simply  men  from  their  own  State,  and  brought 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMIXARY.       117 

up  under  circumstances  precisely  like  tlieir  owu. ''  He  men- 
tions three  plans  which  have  been  suggested:  '^(1)  Trans- 
fer all  present  theological  funds  to  a  new  board,  to  establish 
one  institution  at  some  point  to  be  agreed  on.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  this  can  be  legally  done.  (2)  Let  the  funds 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  present  local  or  State  boards, 
but  let  all  agree  to  use  the  income  for  sustaining  pro- 
fessors at  some  common  centre.  Hard  to  get  all  to  agree. 
(3)  Establish  a  new  institution,  with  new  board,  new 
funds,  possibly  using  some  one  of  the  existing  theological 
departments  as  a  foundation,  but  giving  it  into  the  charge 
of  a  board  of  trustees  selected  from  all  States  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention.  This  last  seems  most 
likely  to  be   carried   into   execution." 

After  repeated  consultation  at  meetings  held  during  the 
sessions  of  the  Convention,  — for  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  itself  never  at  any  time  took  up  the  question, 
—  a  large  committee  was  appointed  (A.  M.  Poindexter, 
chairman)  to  correspond  with  the  trustees  of  existing 
theological  schools,  and  propose  to  Conventions  or  Asso- 
ciations any  means  ''they  ma}^  believe  calculated  to  secure 
in  the  Southern  States  a  thorough  and  useful  training  of 
our  young  men  who  are  entering  the  gospel  ministry." 
There  was  no  practical  result  of  all  this,  but  interest  in 
the  subject  was  slowly  widening  and  deepening. 

Up  to  this  time  James  P.  .Boyce  had  naturally  taken 
no  prominent  part  in  the  movement.  He  was  only  twenty- 
two  years  old,  and  had  not  yet  begun  his  theological  stud- 
ies at  Princeton.  But  two  or  three  times,  while  editing 
the  "  Southern  Baptist  "  during  the  preceding  .months, 
he  had  expressed  himself  as  favorable  to  the  movement. 
The  next  action  taken,  as  far  as  records  are  accessible, 
was  at  the  Baptist  General  Association  of  Virginia,  in 
June,  1854,  proposing  a  meeting  of  ''the  friends  of  theo- 
logical education  "on  May  11,  1855,  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
during  the  session  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention. 


118  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter  that  Eev.  James  P. 
Bojce,  who  had  just  resigned  his  pastorate  in  South 
Carolina,  was  present  and  active  in  this  Montgomery 
Convention.  At  the  accompanying  educational  meetings 
B.  Manly,  Jr.,  w^as  Secretary,  and  a  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence was  appointed,  consisting  of  J.  B.  Jeter, 
J.  P.  Boyce,  and  others.  Pesolutions  offered  by  A.  M. 
Poindexter,  and  unanimously  adopted,  declared  ''that  in 
the  opinion  of  this  meeting  it  is  demanded  by  the  inter- 
ests of  the  cause  of  truth  that  the  Baptists  of  the  South 
and  Southwest  unite  in  establishing  a  Theological  Insti- 
tution of  high  grade,"  and  proposed  that  a  convention  be 
held  in  regard  to  this  object,  at  Augusta,  Ga,,  in  April 
of  the  next  year,  to  be  composed  of  representatives  from 
the  various  colleges,  educational  societies,  and  State 
conventions. 

At  this  next  meeting  in  Augusta,  April,  1856,  the 
attendance  was  of  course  chiefly  from  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia;  but  there  were  two  from  Washington  city,  six 
from  Virginia,  one  from  North  Carolina,  two  from  Flor- 
ida, four  from  Alabama,  one  each  from  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana,  and  three  from  Tennessee.  A  ver^^  large 
proportion  of  these  brethren,  who  came  from  a  distance 
for  this  express  purpose,  were  then,  or  afterwards  became, 
men  of  distinction  among  Southern  Baptists. ^  It  in- 
cluded two,  Boyce  and  Manly,  of  the  men  destined  to  be 
the  Seminary's  first  professors ;  and  three  had  been  present 
at  Montgomery.  Dr.  B.  Manly,  Sr.,  was  made  president, 
and  so  in  each  of  the  subsequent  meetings  until  the 
formation  of  the  Seminary.  He  was  then  again  pastor  in 
Charleston.  A  large  and  able  committee,  headed  by  the 
President,  reported /'that  from  various  causes  they  find 
the  subject  embarrassed  by  difficulties  at  every  point, 
which  it  is  useless  here  to  discuss,  as  it  is  impossible  here 

1  The  list  is  given  in  the  introduction  to  the  Southern  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary's  first  catalogue. 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       119 

to  decide  whether  they  are  insuperable.''  The  committee 
regarded  '^the  attainment  of  the  general  object  as  para- 
mount, but  could  only  recommend  that  still  another 
convention  of  properly  authenticated  delegates,  from  the 
Southern  colleges  and  theological  schools  under  the  control 
of  Baptists,  and  from  Baptist  State  Conventions,  should 
be  held  the  following  year  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  during 
the  two  days  preceding  the  session  of  the  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention.  A  committee,  consisting  of  B.  Manly, 
Sr.,  A.  M.  Poindexter,  and  J.  B.  Jeter,  was  directed  to 
report  to  the  said  meeting  at  Louisville,  (1)  "  what  funds 
exist  subject  to  the  control  of  Baptists  for  theological 
instruction  in  each  of  the  institutions  of  the  South  and 
Southwest;  whether  the  trustees  or  other  parties  holding 
legal  control  over  these  funds  can  and  will  contribute 
them  in  any  form  —  and  if  any,  what  —  to  the  uses  of  a 
common  theological  institution,  to  be  located  at  any  other 
point  within  or  without  the  limits  of  their  own  States 
severally,  should  the  aforesaid  Convention,  to  assemble  at 
Louisville  in  1857,  adjudge  such  different  location  best 
for  the  common  good;  whether  these  funds,  in  case  they 
are  lynited  to  a  spot,  can  and  will  be  placed  within  the 
control  of  such  a  board  of  trustees  as  may  be  appointed 
by  competent  authority  agreed  upon  for  a  common  theo- 
logical institution."  The  same  committee  was  authorized 
and  requested  (2)  ^^to  use  adequate  means  for  ascertaining 
what  efforts  will  be  made  in  favor  of  any  location,  already 
occupied  or  not,  by  the  inhabitants  and  friends  thereof, 
and  what  pecuniary  subscriptions  or  pledges  will  be  given 
as  a  nucleus,  in  case  such  location  should  be  selected  for  the 
common  institution;  the  object  of  all  these  inquiries  being 
to  ascertain,  in  the  fullest  manner  possible,  whether  such  a 
demand  is  felt  for  a  common  institution  of  this  kind  as  may 
be  a  basis  and  encouragement  for  future  united  action." 

It  is  clear  that  this  report  to  the  Augusta  meeting  was 
written  by  James  P.  Boyce,  who  had  been,  since  the  pre- 


120  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

vious  autumn,  professor  in  the  theological  dej)artment  of 
Furman  University.  The  long  series  of  apparently  fruit- 
less meetings  for  consultation  may  now  soon  lead  to  some 
practical  result,  as  pointed  to  by  the  close  of  the  report. 
It  soon  became  evident,  as  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  had  held  seven 
years  before,  that  the  existing  theological  dej)artments  in 
several  States  could  not  be  combined  into  one  institution ; 
and  the  only  hope  la^^  in  the  establishment  of  an  entirely 
new  theological  seminary,  or  of  a  seminary  incorporat- 
ing into  itself  some  one  of  the  existing  theological 
departments. 

Three  months  later,  the  State  Convention  of  the  Baptist 
Denomination  in  South  Carolina  met  at  Greenville,  on 
July  26,  1856.  Under  the  special  leadership  of  Professor 
Boyce,  this  Convention  proposed  to  the  coming  Educa- 
tional Convention  at  Louisville  to  establish  at  Greenville, 
S.  C,  a  common  theological  institution,  offering  that  the 
funds  for  theological  purposes  then  held  by  the  Trustees 
of  Furman  University  (about  thirty  thousand  dollars) 
should  be  turned  over  to  the  proposed  institution,  M-ith 
additional  funds  to  be  raised  in  the  State,  which  should 
make  in  all  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  pro- 
vided that  the  said  institution  shall  be  further  endowed 
with  an  additional  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
be  raised  in  other  States.  Thus  something  practical  was 
at  last  proposed;  and  the  question  was  whether  in  the  next 
nine  months  the  sum  of  seventy  thousand  dollars  could  be 
raised  in  South  Carolina  for  the  requisite  endowment. 

On  July  30  Professor  Boyce,  now  completing  his  first  ses- 
sion as  theological  professor  in  Furman  University,  deliv- 
ered his  inaugural  address.  This  important  address  was 
declared  by  A.  M.  Poindexter  (present  as  Secretary  of  the 
Foreign  Mission  Board  at  Eichmond)  ''the  ablest  thing  of 
the  kind  he  had  ever  heard, ''  and  is  certainly  a  very  remark- 
able production  for  a  young  man  of  twenty-nine.  Its  ideas 
entered  into  the  constitution,  and  chiefly  determined  the 


SOUTHERN  BAFriST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.      121 

peculiarities,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Semi- 
nary. It  will  therefore  be  proper  to  give  here  its  chief 
lines  of  thought,  with  a  number  of  extracts. 

The  address  is  entitled  ''Three  Changes  in  Theologi- 
cal Institutions."  Summarily  stated,  the  three  proposed 
changes  were  the  following:  (1)  A  Baptist  theological 
school  ought  not  merely  to  receive  college  graduates,  but 
men  with  less  of  general  education,  even  men  having  only 
what  is  called  a  common  English  education,  offering  to 
every  man  such  opportunities  of  theological  study  as  he  is 
prepared  for  and  desires.  (2)  Besides  covering,  for  those 
who  are  prepared,  as  wide  a  range  of  theological  study 
as  could  be  found  elsewhere,  such  an  institution  ought 
to  offer  further  and  special  courses,  so  that  the  ablest 
and  most  aspiring  students  might  make  extraordinary 
attainments,  preparing  them  for  instruction  and  original 
authorship,  and  helping  to  make  our  country  less  depen- 
dent upon  foreign  scholarship.  (3)  There  should  be  pre- 
pared an  Abstract  of  Principles,  or  careful  statement  of 
theological  belief,  whicli  every  professor  in  such  an  insti- 
tution must  sign  when  inaugurated,  so  as  to  guard  against 
the  rise  of  erroneous  and  injurious  instruction  in  such  a 
seat  of  sacred  learning. 

He  begins  by  deprecating  any  hasty  conclusion  from 
the  sentiments  he  is  about  to  utter  that  he  is  opposed  to 
the  thorough  training  and  education  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry. We  perceive  tliat  he  foresaw  how  readily  some 
people  would  imagine  that  to  unite  in  the  same  institu- 
tion a  partial  theological  education  of  some  and  a  thorough 
theological  education  of  others  would  be  to  lower  the 
general  standard.  He  wishes  it  distinctly  understood  of 
himself  and  the  Universit}''  Trustees  he  is  addressing 
that  they  — 

''  hold  the  education  of  the  ministry  a  matter  of  the  first  impor- 
tance to  the  churches  of  Christ. 

*' Indeed,  did  we  think  otherwise,  we  could  no  longer  justly 


122  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

stand  forth  as  exponents  in  any  sense  of  the  opinions  upon  this 
subject  which  prevail  in  our  deuouiinatiou.  The  Baptists  are 
unmistakably  the  friends  of  education,  and  the  advocates  of  an 
educated  ministry.  Their  twenty-four  colleges  and  ten  depart- 
ments or  institutions  for  theological  instruction  in  this  country,  as 
well  as  the  extent  to  which  they  have  assisted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  general  institutions,  and  of  those  under  the  control  of 
other  denominations,  furnish  sufficient  testimony  to  the  fact  that 
they  feel  the  value  of  education,  and  the  importance,  under  God, 
of  the  means  it  affords  for  the  better  performance  of  the  work  of 
the  ministry." 

Far  from  wishing  to  diminish  this  denominational  inter- 
est, he  says  that  he  — 

''would  see  the  mea!is  of  theological  education  increased.  I 
would  have  the  facilities  for  pursuing  its  studies  opened  to  all  who 
would  embrace  them  ;  I  would  lead  the  strong  men  of  our  ministry 
to  feel  that  no  position  is  equal  in  responsibility  or  usefulness  to 
that  of  one  devoted  to  this  cause;  and  I  would  spread  among  our 
churches  such  an  earnest  desire  for  educated  ministers  as  would 
make  them  willing  so  to  increase  the  support  of  the  ministry  as 
to  enable  all  of  those  who  are  now  forced,  from  want  of  means,  to 
enter  without  the  fullest  preparation  upon  the  active  duties  of  the 
work,  so  far  to  anticipate  the  support  they  will  receive  as  to 
feel  free  to  borrow  the  means  by  which  their  education  may  be 
completed." 

He  wishes  to  propose  certain  changes  which  will  widen 
the  extent  of  theological  education  among  us,  without 
at  all  lowering  the  standard.  The  results  thus  far  of 
establishing  theological  institutions  have  been  extremely 
meagre. 

''  The  mind  of  the  whole  denomination  has  been  awakened  to 
the  want  of  success  under  which  we  have  suffered  in  our  past 
efforts,  and  the  best  intellects  and  hearts  in  all  our  Southern 
bounds  are  directed  to  the  causes  of  our  failure,  and  to  the  means 
by  which  success  may  be  attained.  .  .  .  The  theological  seminary 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       123 

Las  not  been  a  popular  institution.  But  few  have  sought  its  ad- 
vantages; but  few  have  been  nurtured  by  the  influences  sent  forth 
from  it ;  and  while  our  denomination  has  continued  to  increase, 
and  our  principles  have  annually  been  spreading  more  widely, 
it  has  been  sensibly  felt  that  whatever  ministerial  increase  has 
accompanied  has  been  not  only  disproportionate  to  that  of  our 
membership,  but  has  owed  its  origin  in  no  respect  to  the  influence 
of  theological  education. 

''And  this  seems  to  be  the  general  law  in  the  denomination. 
The  complaint  is  not  peculiar  to  our  institution ;  it  seems  to  exist 
everywhere,  despite  aU  the  eflforts  to  counteract  it  which  have 
been  put  forth,  and  not  to  be  confined  to  Baptists,  but  to  be  the 
lamentation  of  all.  You  will  see  it  in  the  organs  of  all  the  prom- 
inent denominations,  and  the  cause  of  it  is  the  subject  of  earnest 
inquiry." 

There  is  a  greatly  increased  and  ever-increasing  de- 
mand for  more  ministers,  but  no  corresponding  increase 
in  the  number  who  present  themselves. 

^'  Oh,  were  there  ever  a  time  when  we  should  expect  tliat  God 
would  answer  the  prayers  of  his  churches,  and  ovei-flood  the  land 
and  the  world  with  a  ministry  adequate  to  uphold  his  cause  in 
every  locality,  it  would  seem  to  be  now !  —  now,  when  the  wealth 
of  the  churches  is  sufficient  to  send  the  Gospel  to  every  creature; 
now,  when  in  the  art  of  printing  the  Church  has  again  received 
the  gift  of  tongues;  now,  when  the  workings  of  God  himself  indi- 
cate his  readiness  to  beget  a  nation  in  a  day  ;  now,  when  the 
multiplication  a  thousand-fold  of  the  laborers  wiU  still  leave  an 
abundant  work  for  each  ;  but  now,  alas !  now,  when  our  churches 
at  home  are  not  adequately  supplied,  when  dark  and  destitute 
places  are  found  in  the  most  favored  portions  of  our  own  land, 
when  the  heathen  are  at  our  very  doors,  and  the  cry  is,  *  Help ! 
help  ! '  and  there  is  no  help,  because  there  are  not  laborers  enough 
to  meet  the  wants  immediately  around  us. 

''  There  are  serious  questions  presented  to  us  here:  To  what 
are  these  things  due?  Have  we  not  disregarded  tlie  laws  which 
the  providence  and  word  of  God  have  laid  down  for  us  ?  And 
does  he  not  now  chastise  us  by  suftering  our  schemes  to  work 
out  their  natural  results,  that  we,  being  left  to  ourselves,  may 


124  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

see  our  folly,  and  return  to   him  and  to  his  ways,  as  the  only 
means  of  strength? 

'^  In  ascribing  this  evil  for  the  most  part  to  our  theological 
institutions,  I  would  not  appear  unmindful  of  the  other  circum- 
stances upon  which  an  increase  of  the  ministry  in  our  churches 
depends.  Never  would  I  consent  to  lift  my  voice  upon  such  a 
subject  as  this  without  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of 
God  working  his  own  will,  and  calling  forth  according  to  that 
will  the  many  or  the  few  with  whose  aid  he  will  secure  the  bless- 
ing. Never  could  I  proceed  upon  any  assumption  that  would 
seem  to  take  for  granted  that  there  is  not  the  utmost  need  of  more 
special  awakening  to  devotion  and  piety  in  our  churches,  and  a 
more  fervent  utterance  of  prayer  for  the  increase  of  the  laborers. 
Neither  would  I  have  it  supposed  that  all  that  the  theological 
institution  can  effect  will  be  fully  adequate  to  our  wants,  while 
our  pastors  neglect  to  search  out  and  encourage  the  useful  gifts 
which  God  has  bestowed  upon  the  members  of  their  churches,  or 
the  churches  themselves  neglect  the  law  of  God  which  provides 
an  adequate  support  for  the  ministry.  But  while  due  prominence 
is  given  to  all  of  these  circumstances,  it  yet  appears  that  the 
chief  cause  is  to  be  found  in  our  departure  from  the  way  which 
God  has  marked  out  for  us,  and  our  failure  to  make  provision  for 
the  education  of  such  a  ministry  as  he  designs  to  send  forth  and 
honor." 

He  wishes,  therefore,  as  the  first  and  principal  change,  to 
offer  the  opportunity  of  theological  training  to  all  classes 
of  those  wliom  God  calls  into  the  ministry,  and  not  simply, 
as  heretofore,  to  invite  into  theological  schools  those  wdio 
have  completed  a  college  course. 

"  Permit  me  to  ask  what  has  been  the  prominent  idea  at  the 
basis  of  theological  education  in  this  country.  To  arrive  at  it 
w^e  have  only  to  notice  the  requisitions  necessary  for  entrance  upon 
a  course  of  study.  Have  they  not  been  almost  universally  that 
the  student  should  have  passed  through  a  regular  college  course, 
or  made  attainments  equivalent  thereto  ?  And  have  not  even  the 
exceptional  cases  been  rare  instances  in  which  the  Faculty  or 
Board  have,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  assumed  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  deviation  from  the  ordinary  course  ? 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       125 

"  The  idea  which  is  promiucut  as  the  basis  of  this  action  is  that 
the  work  of  the  ministry  should  be  intrusted  only  to  those  who 
have  been  classically  educated,  —  an  assumption  which,  singularly 
enough,  is  made  for  no  other  profession.  It  is  in  vain  to  say  that 
such  is  not  the  theory  or  the  practice  of  our  denomination.  It  is 
the  theory  and  the  practice  of  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  those  who 
have  controlled  our  institutions,  and  have  succeeded  in  engrafting 
this  idea  upon  them,  contrary  to  the  spirit  which  prevails  among 
the  churches.  They  have  done  this,  without  doubt,  in  the  exercise 
of  their  best  judgment,  but  have  failed  because  they  neglected  the 
better  plan  pointed  out  by  the  providence  and  word  of  God. 

'^  The  practical  operation  of  this  theory  has  tended  in  two  ways 
to  diminish  the  ranks  of  our  valuable  ministry.  It  has  restrained 
many  from  entering  upon  the  work,  and  has  prevented  the  arrange- 
ment of  such  a  course  of  study  as  would  have  enabled  those  who 
have  entered  upon  it  to  fit  themselves  in  a  short  time  for  valuable 
service.  The  consequences  have  been  that  the  number  of  those 
who  have  felt  themselves  called  of  God  to  the  ministry  has  been 
disproportioncd  to  the  wants  of  the  churches  ;  and  of  that  number 
but  a  very  small  proportion  have  entered  it  with  a  proper  prepara- 
tion for  even  common  usefulness.  And  only  by  energy  and  zeal, 
awakened  by  their  devotion  to  the  work,  have  they  been  able  to 
succeed  in  their  labors,  and  to  do  for  themselves  the  work,  the 
greater  part  of  which  the  theological  school  should  have  accom- 
plished for  them. 

"In  his  word  and  in  his  providence,  God  seems  to  have  plainly 
indicated  the  principle  upon  which  the  instruction  of  the  ministry 
should  be  based.  It  is  not  that  every  man  should  be  made  a 
scholar,  an  adept  in  philology,  an  able  interpreter  of  the  Bible  in 
its  original  languages,  acquainted  with  all  the  sciences  upon  the 
various  facts  and  theories  of  which  God's  word  is  attacked  and 
must  be  defended,  and  versed  in  all  the  systems  of  true  and  false 
philosophy,  which  some  must  understand  in  order  to  encounter 
the  enemies  who  attack  the  very  foundations  of  religion,  but  that 
while  the  privilege  of  becoming  such  shall  be  freely  offered  to  all, 
and  every  student  shall  be  encouraged  to  obtain  all  the  advantages 
that  education  can  afford,  the  opportunity  should  be  given  to  those 
who  cannot  or  will  not  make  thorough  scholastic  preparation  to 
obtain  that  adequate  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  the  Scriptures, 
systematically  arranged,  and  of  the  laws  which  govern  the  inter- 


126  MEMOIR  OJ?  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

pretatiou  of  the  text  in  the  English  version,  which  constitutes  all 
that  is  actually  necessary  to  enable  them  to  preach  the  Gospel,  to 
build  up  the  churches  on  their  most  holy  faith,  and  to  instruct 
them  in  the  practice  of  the  duties  incumbent  upon  them. 

"  The  Scriptural  qualifications  for  the  ministry  do,  indeed,  in- 
volve the  idea  of  knowledge,  but  that  knowledge  is  not  of  the 
sciences,  nor  of  philosophy,  nor  of  the  languages,  but  of  God  and  of 
his  plan  of  salvation.  He  who  has  not  this  knowledge,  though  he 
be  learned  iu  all  the  learning  of  the  schools,  is  incapable  of  preach- 
ing the  word  of  God.  But  he  who  knows  it,  not  superficially, 
not  merely  in  those  plain  and  simple  declarations  known  to  every 
believing  reader,  but  iu  its  power,  as  revealed  in  its  precious  and 
sanctifying  doctrines,  is  fitted  to  bring  forth  out  of  his  treasury 
things  new  and  old,  and  is  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  although  he  may  speak  to  his  hearers  in  uncouth  words 
or  in  manifest  ignorance  of  all  the  sciences.  The  one  belongs  to 
the  class  of  educated  ministers,  the  other  to  the  ministry  of  edu- 
cated men;  and  the  two  things  are  essentially  different." 

This  difference  lie  illustrates  by  contrasting  John  Bun- 
yan  and  Theodore  Parker  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel. 

''  Who  is  the  minister  here,  —  the  man  of  the  schools,  or  the  man 
of  the  Scriptures  ?  Who  bears  the  insignia  of  an  ambassador  for 
Christ?  Whom  does  God  own?  Whom  would  the  Church  hear? 
In  whose  power  would  she  put  forth  her  strength  ?  And  yet  these 
instances,  though  extreme,  will  serve  to  show  what  may  be  the 
ministry  of  the  educated  man,  and  what  that  of  the  illiterate  man, 
the  educated  minister.  The  perfection  of  the  ministry,  it  is  gladly 
admitted,  would  consist  in  the  just  combination  of  the  two;  but 
it  is  not  the  business  of  the  Church  to  establish  a  perfect,  but  an 
adequate  ministry ;  and  it  is  only  of  the  latter  that  we  may  hope 
for  an  abundant  supply.  The  qualification  God  lays  down  is  the 
only  one  he  permits  us  to  demand ;  and  the  instruction  of  our 
theological  schools  must  be  based  upon  such  a  plan  as  shall  afford 
this  amount  of  education  to  those  who  actually  constitute  the 
mass  of  our  ministry,  and  who  cannot  obtain  more. 

''  The  providential  dispensation  of  God,  in  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  his  Church,  fully  illustrates  the  truth  of  this  principle, 
so  plainly  in  accordance  with  his  word.    That  the  education  of  the 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       127 

schools  is  of  great  advantage  to  the  minister  truly  trained  in  the 
word  of  truth,  has  been  illustrated  by  the  labors  of  Paul,  Augus- 
tin,  Calvin,  Beza,  Davies,  Edwards,  and  a  host  of  others  who 
have  stood  forth  in  their  different  ages  the  most  prominent  of  all 
the  ministry  of  their  day,  and  the  most  efficient  workmen  in  the 
cause  of  Christ;  while  in  the  eleven  Apostles,  in  the  mass  of 
the  ministry  of  that  day,  and  of  all  other  times  and  places,  God 
has  manifested  that  he  will  work  out  the  greater  portion  of  his 
purposes  by  men  of  no  previous  training,  and  educated  only  in 
the  mysteries  of  that  truth  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

''  Never  has  he  illustrated  that  principle  more  fully  than  in 
connection  with  the  progress  of  the  principles  of  our  own  denom- 
ination. We  have  had  our  men  of  might  and  power  who  have 
shown  the  advantages  of  scholastic  education  as  a  basis,  but  we 
have  also  seen  the  great  instruments  of  our  progress  to  have  been 
the  labors  of  a  much  humbler  class.  Trace  our  history  back, 
either  through  the  centuries  that  have  long  passed  away,  or  in 
the  workings  of  God  during  the  last  hundred  years,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  mass  of  the  vineyard  laborers  have  been  from  the 
ranks  of  fishermen  and  tax-gatherers,  cobblers  and  tinkers,  weavers 
and  ploughmen,  to  whom  God  has  not  disdained  to  impart  gifts, 
and  whom  he  has  qualified  as  his  ambassadors  by  the  presence  of 
that  Spirit  by  which,  and  not  by  might,  wisdom,  or  power,  is  the 
work  of  the  Lord  accomplished. 

''  The  Baptists  of  America,  especially,  should  be  the  last  to 
forget  this  method  of  working  on  the  part  of  their  ]\Iaster,  and  the 
first  to  retrace  any  steps  which  would  seem  to  indicate  such  forget- 
fulness.  It  has  been  signally  manifested  in  the  establishment  of 
their  faith  and  principles.  The  names  which  have  been  identi- 
fied with  our  growth  have  been  those  of  men  of  no  collegiate 
education,  of  no  learning  or  rhetorical  eloquence,  of  no  instruction 
even  in  schools  of  theology.  Hervey,  Gano,  Bennet,  Semple, 
Broaddus,  Armstrong,  Mercer,  who  were  these  ?  Men  of  education, 
of  collegiate  training,  of  theological  schools  ?  Nay,  indeed.  All 
praise  to  those  who  did  possess  any  of  these  advantages !  They 
were  burning  and  shining  lights.  They  hid  neither  talents  nor 
opportunities,  but  devoted  them  to  the  cause  they  loved,  and 
accomplished  much  in  its  behalf.  They  maintained  positions 
which  perhaps  none  others  could  have  occupied.  But  their  number 
was  not  sufficient  for  the  work  of  the  Lord ;  and  he  gave  a  multi- 


12S  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

tude  of  others,  —  meu  who  were  found  in  labors  oft,  in  wearisome 
toils  by  day  and  by  night,  in  heat  or  in  cold,  facing  dangers  of 
every  kind,  enduring  private  and  public  persecution,  travelling 
through  swamp  and  forest  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
to  the  lost  and  perishing  of  our  country.  And  the  Baptists  can 
neither  forget  them  nor  the  principle  taught  us  in  their  labors,  by 
the  providence  of  God.  Whatever  may  be  the  course  of  those 
who  have  the  training  of  their  ministry,  these  ideas  have  sunk  so 
deeply  into  the  minds  of  the  denomination  that  they  can  never 
be  eradicated.  And  the  day  will  yet  come,  perhaps  has  already 
come,  when  the  churches  will  rise  in  their  strength  and  demand 
that  our  Theological  Institutions  make  educational  provisions  for 
the  mass  of  their  ministry. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  ministry  in  the  past,  as  composed  of  men 
whose  success  illustrates  the  theory  of  the  need  only  of  theologi- 
cal education.  And  yet  it  is  apparent  that  they  enjoyed  none  of 
the  advantages  for  that  purpose  which  are  connected  with  the  pre- 
sent arrangements  for  study.  In  the  absence  of  these,  however, 
they  did  attain  to  the  amount  of  theological  education  which  is 
essential.  This  was  accomplished  through  excessive  labor,  exer- 
cised by  minds  capable  of  mighty  efforts,  and  drawn  forth  under 
circumstances  favorable  to  their  development.  When  we  look 
attentively  at  the  record  they  have  left  us,  or  contemplate  those  of 
them  whom  Grod's  mercy  to  us  permits  yet  to  linger  with  us,  we 
perceive  that  they  were  not  the  uneducated  ministers  commonly 
supposed.  It  is  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  they  had  not  the 
learning  of  the  schools.  A  few  books  of  theology  —  perhaps  a 
single  commentary — formed,  with  their  Bibles,  their  whole  ap- 
paratus of  instruction,  and  measured  the  extent  of  their  reading. 
But  of  these  books  they  were  wont  to  make  themselves  masters. 
By  a  course  of  incessant  study,  accompanied  by  examinations  of 
tlie  word  of  God,  they  were  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  pro- 
cesses and  results  of  the  best  thoughts  of  their  authors  that  they 
became,  for  all  practicable  purposes,  almost  the  same  men.  And 
if,  by  any  course  of  training,  substantially  of  the  same  kind,  our 
theological  schools  can  restore  to  us  such  a  mass  ministry  as  was 
then  enjoyed,  the  days  of  our  progress  and  prosperity  will  be  real- 
ized to  have  but  just  begun;  and  we  shall  go  forward,  by  the 
help  of  the  Lord,  to  possess  the  whole  land  which  lieth  before 
us.     If  by  any  means  to  these  can  be  added  at  least  fivefold  the 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       129 

number  of  those  now  educated  in  the  regular  course  of  theology, 
I  doubt  not  but  it  will  be  felt  that  the  most  sauguiue  hopes  they 
have  ever  excited  will  be  more  thau  fultilled." 

He  now  proceeds  to  inquire  whether  arrangements  can 
actually  be  made  for  offering  theological  education  to  that 
great  mass  of  ministers  who  have  not  been  to  college. 

''  I  believe,  geutlemen,  that  it  can  be  done;  and  more  thau 
this,  that  in  the  attempt  to  do  it  we  shall  accomplish  an  abun- 
dantly greater  work.  Let  us  abandon  the  false  principle  which 
has  so  long  controlled  us,  and  adopt  the  one  which  God  points 
out  to  us  by  his  word  and  his  providence,  and  from  the  very 
supplies  God  now  gives  to  us  may  be  wrought  out  precisely  such 
a  ministry.  Those  who  have  entered  upon  the  work  will  be 
rendered  fully  capable  to  perform  its  duties,  and  numbers  besides 
will  be  called  forth  to  it  who  have  heretofore  been  restraiued  by 
insurmountable  obstacles. " 

The  suggestions  next  offered,  as  to  which  seminary- 
studies  may  be  pursued  by  this  great  mass  of  students, 
need  not  be  here  introduced,  since  the  more  full}'  developed 
plans  which  a  year  or  two  later  were  wrought  out,  with  his 
assistance,  and  introduced  into  the  organization  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  will  be  given  in 
our  next  chapter.  He  now  proceeds  to  restate  the  benefits 
of  the  change  he  is  advocating:  — 

''  By  the  means  proposed,  the  theological  school  will  meet  the 
wants  of  a  large  class  of  those  who  now  enter  the  ministry  with- 
out the  advantages  of  such  instruction,  —  a  class  equally  with 
their  more  learned  associates  burning  with  earnest  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  deep  convictions  of  the  value  of  immortal 
souls,  one  possessed  of  natural  gifts  capable,  even  with  limited 
knowledge,  of  enchaining  the  attention,  affectin<r  the  hearts,  and 
enlightening  the  minds  of  many  who  surround  them  ;  a  class 
composed,  however,  of  those  who,  with  few  exceptions,  soon  find 
themselves  exhausted  of  their  materials,  forced  to  repeat  the  same 
topics  in  the  same  way,  and  finally  to  aim  at  notliing  but  con- 
tinuous exhortation,  bearing  constantly  up(tn  the  same  point,  or. 


130  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

as  is  oftentimes  the  ease,  destitute  of  any  point  at  all.  In  their 
present  condition  these  ministers  are  of  comparatively  little  value 
to  the  churches,  having  no  capacity  to  feed  them  with  the  word 
of  God,  affording  no  attractions  to  bring  a  congregation  to  the 
house  of  God,  and  no  power  to  set  before  them  when  gathered 
there  sudi  an  exposition  of  the  word  of  God  as  may,  through 
the  influences  of  his  Spirit,  awaken  them  to  penitence,  and  lead 
to  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  What  the  same  men  might 
become,  were  they  better  instructed,  is  apparent  from  the  results 
attained  by  men  of  the  same  previous  education,  who,  possessed  of 
more  leisure,  or  of  a  greater  natural  taste  for  study,  have  so 
improved  themselves  as  to  occupy  positions  of  greater  respecta- 
bility and  usefulness. 

''  The  class  of  men  whose  cause  I  now  plead  before  you  is,  of 
all  those  which  furnish  material  for  our  ministry,  that  which  most 
needs  the  theological  training  I  would  ask  for  it.  Every  argu- 
ment for  theological  schools  bears  directly  in  favor  of  its  interests. 
Are  such  schools  founded  that  our  ministry  may  not  be  ignorant 
of  the  truth  ?  Which  class  of  that  ministry  is  more  ignorant  than 
this  ?  Is  it  the  object  of  their  endowment  that  such  education  may 
be  cheapened?  Who  are  generally  in  more  straitened  circum- 
stances ?  Is  it  designed  to  produce  an  abundant,  able,  faithful, 
and  practical  ministry?  Where  are  the  materials  more  abun- 
dant f  Whence,  for  the  amount  of  labor  expended,  will  come 
more  copious  harvests  ?  So  that  it  appears  that  whatever  may 
be  our  obligations  to  other  classes,  or  the  advantages  to  be  gained 
in  their  education,  the  mere  statement  of  them  impresses  upon  us 
our  duty,  and  the  yet  greater  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the 
education  of  that  class  which  should  comprise  two  thirds  at  least 
of  those  who  receive  a  theological  education. 

'^  The  men  who  go  from  college  walls  untaught  in  theology 
have  yet  a  training  and  an  amount  of  knowledge  of  incalculable 
benefit.  They  can  do  something  to  make  up  their  deficiencies. 
But  what  chance  is  there  for  these  others  ?  They  know  not  how- 
to  begin  to  study.  Let  one  of  them  take  up  the  Scriptures,  and 
he  finds  himself  embarrassed  in  the  midst  of  statements  which 
the  Church  for  centuries  after  the  Apostles  had  not  fully  har- 
monized, —  statements  which  constitute  the  facts  of  theology, 
from  which,  in  like  manner  with  other  sciences,  by  processes  of 
induction  and  comparison,  the  absolute  truth  must  be  established. 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       131 

If  to  escape  the  difficulty  he  turns  to  a  text-hook  of  theology,  he 
is  puzzled  at  once  by  technicalities  so  easily  understood  hy  those 
better  instructed  that  this  technical  character  is  totally  unper- 
ceived.  If  he  turns  in  this  dilemma  to  our  seminaries,  he  finds 
no  encouragement  to  enter.  A  man  of  age,  perhaps  of  family,  he 
is  called  upon  to  spend  years  of  study  in  the  literary  and  scientific 
departments  before  he  is  allowed  to  suppose  that  he  can  profitably 
pursue  theology.  Straitened,  perhaps,  in  his  circumstances,  and 
unwilling  to  partake  of  the  bounty  of  others,  he  is  told  that  he 
must  study  during  a  number  of  years,  his  expenses  during  which 
would  probably  exhaust  fivefold  his  little  store.  With  a  mind 
capable  of  understanding  and  perceiving  the  truth,  and  of  express- 
ing judicious  opinions  upon  any  subject,  the  facts  of  which  he 
comprehends,  he  is  told  that  he  must  })ass  through  a  course  of 
study,  the  chief  value  of  which  is  to  train  the  mind,  and  which 
will  only  benefit  him  by  the  amount  of  knowledge  it  will  inci- 
dentally convey.  I  can  readily  imagine  the  despair  with  which 
that  man  would  be  filled  who,  impelled  by  a  conviction  that  it  is 
his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel,  contemplates  under  these  circum- 
stances the  provisions  which  the  friends  of  an  educated  ministry 
have  made  for  him.  We  know  not  how  many  affected  by  that 
sentiment  are  at  this  moment  longing  to  enter  upon  preparation 
for  a  work  which  they  feel  God  has  intrusted  only  to  those  who, 
because  of  their  knowledge  of  his  word,  have  an  essential  ele- 
ment of  aptness  to  teach.  Be  it  yours,  gentlemen,  to  reanimate 
their  drooping  hopes  by  opening  up  before  them  the  means  of 
attaining  this  qualification." 

But  he  holds  that  great  benefits  will  also  follow  in 
regard  to  college-bred  men. 

''  The  adoption  of  the  true  principle  will  not  only  tend,  how- 
ever, to  secure  for  us  this  education  in  the  masses,  which  we  need, 
but  will  also  increase  fivefold  the  number  of  those  who  will 
receive  a  thorough  theological  education.  It  will  do  this  by  the 
change  of  policy  to  which  it  will  lead  in  reference  to  another  class 
of  our  candidates  for  the  ministry. 

"  We  have  among  us  a  number  of  men  who  have  enj(n'ed  all 
the  advantages  of  c<»llege  life,  but  who  have  not  been  able,  or 
willing,  to  S[)end    the  additional    years    needed    for   theological 


132  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

study.  These  are  possessed  of  far  greater  advantages  than  those 
of  the  other  chiss,  —  men  of  polished  education,  of  well-trained 
minds,  capahle  of  extensive  usefulness  to  the  cause  of  Christ ;  but 
their  deficiencies  are  plainly  apparent,  and  readily  traceable  to  the 
lack  of  a  theological  education.  They  are  educated  men,  but  not 
educated  ministers;  for,  while  familiar  with  all  the  sciences  which 
form  parts  of  the  college  curriculum,  they  are  ignorant  for  the 
most  part  of  that  very  science  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
their  ministerial  labors.  The  labors  of  their  pastoral  charges 
prevent  such  study  of  the  word  of  God,  either  exegetically  or 
systematically,  as  will  enable  them  to  become  masters  of  its  con- 
tents. Having  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry,  however, 
they  are  forced  to  press  forward,  encountering  difficulties  at  every 
step,  —  fearing  to  touch  upon  many  doctrines  of  Scripture  lest 
they  misstate  them,  and  frequently  guilty  of  such  misstatements 
even  in  the  presentation  of  the  simpler  topics  they  attempt, 
because  they  fail  to  recognize  the  important  connections  which 
exist  among  all  the  truths  of  God.  A  few,  indeed,  possessed  of 
giant  minds,  capable  of  the  most  accurate  investigations,  and 
filled  with  indomitable  energy  in  the  pursuit  of  what  they  feel  to 
be  needful,  overcome  every  obstacle,  and  attain  to  knowledge 
often  superior  to  that  of  others  whose  training  has  been  more 
advantageous.  But  the  vast  majority  find  themselves  burdened 
with  a  weight  whicli  they  cannot  remove,  and  by  which  they  feel 
that  their  energies  are  almost  destroyed.  It  is  needless  to  say  of 
these  that  the  churches  do  not  grow  under  their  ministry ;  that, 
not  having  partaken  of  strong  meat,  they  cannot  impart  it ;  and 
that  their  hearers  pass  on  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  awakened, 
indeed,  to  practical  duties,  made  in  many  respects  efficient  in  co- 
operating with  Christ's  people,  but  not  built  up  to  this  condition 
on  their  most  holy  faith,  but  upon  other  motives,  which,  however 
good,  are  really  insufficient  for  the  best  progress,  —  at  least  of  their 
own  spiritual  natures.  Such  is  not  the  position  in  the  ministry 
which  four-fifths  of  our  educated  men  should  occupy.  They  will 
tell  you  themselves,  gentlemen,  that  this  should  not  be  the  case. 
If  due  to  their  own  precipitancy,  they  will  attach  blame  to  them- 
selves ;  but  if  it  result  from  the  exclusiveness  of  theological  schools, 
their  declaration  is  equivalent  to  testimony  in  favor  of  its  removal, 
and  of  the  admission  of  all  who  are  capable  of  pursuing  the  regu- 
lar course  to  participate  in  its  advantages.     The  disturbances  felt 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       133 

about  unsettled  doctrines,  the  inability  experienced  to  declare  the 
whole  counsel  of  God,  the  doctrinal  mistakes  realized  as  frequently 
committed,  have  long  since  convinced  them  that  all  of  their  other 
education  is  of  but  little  value  compared  with  that  knowledge  of 
the<dogy  which  they  have  lost  in  its  acquisition. 

''  The  theory  of  the  theological  school  should  doubtless  be  to 
nrge  upon  every  one  to  take  full  courses  in  both  departments  j 
but  when  this  is  not  possible,  it  should  give  to  those  who  are 
forced  to  select  between  thern,  the  opportunity  of  omitting  the 
collegiate,  and  entering  at  once  upon  the  theological,  course.  I 
see  not  how  any  one  can  rationally  question  that  many,  if  not  all, 
of  those  who  are  fitted  for  the  Sophomore,  or  even  the  Freshman, 
class  in  college  are  prepared,  so  far  as  knowledge  of  books  or 
languages  is  concerned,  to  enter  with  very  great,  though  not  with 
the  utmost,  profit  upon  the  study  of  theology.  The  amount  of 
Greek  and  Latin  acquired  is  ample  for  this  purpose.  The  study 
of  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  is  commenced  in  the  theological  course; 
while  that  which  is  really  the  main  object  for  the  younger  men  in 
the  collegiate  course,  the  training  and  forming  of  the  mind  so 
far  as  at  all  practicable,  will  for  the  older  students  have  been 
already  accomplished,  or  for  them  and  for  the  younger  ones  may 
be  compensated  in  great  part  by  that  more  thorough  training  in 
the  studies  of  the  Seminary  necessary  to  all  who  would  acquire 
such  knowledge  of  theology  as  will  make  them  fully  acquainted 
with  its  truths." 

The  views  of  the  last  paragraph  and  of  that  which  fol- 
lows would  not  be  acceptable  to  some  college  presidents 
and  professors,  and  are  not  a  necessary  part  of  Dr.  Bo^^ce's 
general  scheme.  Perhaps  the  best  practical  course  would 
be  that  seminary  professors  and  students  should  never 
encourage  college  men  —  save  in  highly  exceptional  cases 
—  to  break  off  their  college  course  and  enter  the  seminary; 
and  that  college  professors  and  students  should  not  treat 
it  as  an  unpardonable  sin  if  some  college  men  do  quit 
college  to  enter  a  theological  school  at  once.  After  all,  the 
students  must  be  treated  as  free;  and  their  own  instinctive 
judgments,  after  proper  counsel,  will  oftener  lead  them 
right  than  wrong. 


134  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

*'  Since  this  is  the  case,  why  compel  this  class  to  spend  their  time 
in  studies  which,  however  valuable  in  themselves,  have  but  a 
secondary  importance,  compared  with  those  they  are  made  to 
supersede  ?  If  there  be  any  who  will  pursue  the  studies  of  both 
departments,  their  number  will  never  be  diminished  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  plan  proposed.  If  it  will,  better  that  this  be  so  than 
that  so  many  others  neglect  theology.  But  we  may  confidently 
believe  that  the  results  will  only  be  to  take  from  the  collegiate 
course  those  who  would  neglect  the  other,  and  cause  them  to 
spend  the  same  number  of  years  in  the  study  of  that  which  has  an 
immediate  bearing  upon  their  work.  It  is  simply  a  choice  as  to 
certain  men  between  a  thorough  literary  and  a  thorough  theo- 
logical course.  The  former  may  make  a  man  more  refined  and 
intelligent,  better  able  to  sustain  a  position  of  influence  with  the 
world,  and  more  capable  of  illustrating,  by  a  w^ide  range  of 
science,  the  truth  he  may  have  arrived  at ;  the  latter  will  improve 
his  Christian  graces,  will  impart  to  him  the  whole  range  of 
revealed  truth,  will  make  him  the  instructor  of  his  people,  truly 
the  man  of  God  prepared  in  all  things  to  give  to  each  one  his 
portion  in  due  season." 

He  now  concludes  his  discussion  of  the  first  change 
proposed,  by  insisting  that  it  will  involve  no  radical  alter- 
ations in  the  working  of  a  theological  school,  and  that  it 
will  promote  just  views  of  ministerial  education. 

"  The  same  course  of  Systematic  Theology  will  be  sufl[icient  for 
all  classes,  the  advantages  possessed  by  those  more  highly  edu- 
cated enabling  them  simply  to  add  to  the  text-book  or  lectures 
the  examination  of  Turrettin  or  some  other  prescribed  author. 
In  the  study  of  Scripture  Interpretation,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
make  two  divisions,  though  experience  will  probably  prove  the 
practicability  even  of  uniting  these.  There  will  be  needed  for  all 
classes  the  same  instruction  in  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  in 
Pastoral  Theology,  in  the  analysis  of  texts,  the  construction  of 
skeletons,  and  the  composition  of  essays  and  sermons  ;  and  in  all 
of  these  the  classes  may  be  united.  So  that,  really,  we  shall  only 
so  far  revolutionize  the  institution  as  to  add  numbers  to  the 
classes,  and  permit  some  of  those  whom  we  add  to  take  up  those 
studies  only  which  a  plain  English  education  will  enable  them  to 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.      135 

pursue  profitably.  All  the  inconvenience  which  may  accrue 
therefrom  will  be  gladly  endured  by  all  for  the.  benefit  of  the 
masses,  and  because  of  the  mutual  love  and  esteem  which,  by 
their  throwing  together,  will  be  fostered  between  the  most  highly 
educated  and  the  plainest  of  our  ministry. 

"  In  adopting  this  change  we  are  so  far  from  saying  that  educa- 
tion is  unnecessary  that  we  proclaim  its  absolute  necessity.  We 
undertake,  however,  to  point  out  what  education  it  is  that  is  thus 
essential,  and  what  that  which  is  only  valuable ;  and  while  we 
urge  upon  all  to  acquire  all  useful  knowledge  as  an  aid  to  that 
work,  we  point  out  the  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God  as  that 
which  is  first  in  importance,  and  we  provide  the  means  by  which 
this  second  class  may  pursue  its  appropriate  studies,  and  those  by 
which  adequate  theological  instruction  may  be  given  to  the  four- 
fifths  of  our  ministry  who  now  enjoy  no  means  of  instruction. 
And  we  look  with  confidence  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  this 
plan,  not  because  we  believe  that  he  favors  an  ignorant  ministry, 
but  because,  knowing  that  ho  requires  that  his  ministry  be 
instructed,  and  that  by  his  word  and  his  providence  he  has 
pointed  out  the  nature  of  the  learning  he  demands,  we  believe 
that  the  plan  proposed  is  based  upon  these  iudieatious ;  and  that 
his  refusal  to  send  forth  laborers  has  been  chastisement  iufiicted 
upon  us  that  we  may  be  brought  back  to  his  own  plans,  which  we 
have  abandoned  for  those  of  men." 

The  second  change  which  Professor  Boyce  suggests  is 
that  after  completing  the  usual  course  of  theological  study, 
some  students  should  be  encouraged  to  remain  for  further 
graduate  studies.  A  proper  provision  for  such  graduate 
studies  would  tend  to  promote  theological  scholarship  in 
our  country. 

*'  It  has  been  felt  as  a  sore  evil  that  we  have  been  dependent  in 
great  part  upon  the  criticism  of  Germany  for  all  the  more  learned 
investigations  in  Biblical  Criticism  and  Exegesis,  and  that  in  the 
study  of  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  as  well  as 
of  its  outward  progress,  we  have  been  compelled  to  depend  upon 
works  in  which  much  of  error  has  been  mingled  with  truth,  owing 
to  the  defective  standpoint  occupied  by  tlieir  authors. 

"And  although  the  disadvantages  of  American  scholars  have 


136  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

been  realized,  arising  from  the  want  of  adequate  theological 
libraries,  as  well  as  from  the  inaccessible  nature  of  much  other 
material,  it  has  been  felt  that  it  has  been  in  great  part  due  to  the 
limited  extent  to  which  the  study  of  theological  science  has  been 
pursued  among  us,  that  we  have  been  so  much  dependent  upon 
others,  so  unable  to  push  forward  investigations  for  ourselves,  and 
even  so  inadequately  acquainted  with  the  valuable  results  of  others 
who  have  accomplished  the  work  for  us.  But  a  few  perhaps  have 
participated  in  this  sentiment,  but  the  evil  which  awakens  it  is 
not,  therefore,  the  less  momentous." 

In  this  matter  Baptists  ought  to  feel  themselves  specially 
concerned. 

"  It  is  an  evil  which  may  be  regarded  as  pervading  the  whole 
field  of  American  religious  scholarship,  and  the  remedy  should  be 
sought  alike  by  all  denominations.  It  is  a  matter  of  the  deepest 
interest  to  all  that  we  should  be  placed  in  a  position  of  indepen- 
dence in  this  matter,  and  that  our  rising  ministry  should  be 
trained  under  the  scholarship  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  mind,  which, 
from  its  nature,  as  well  as  from  the  circumstances  which  surround 
it,  is  eminently  fitted  to  weigh  evidence,  and  to  decide  as  to  its 
appropriateness  and  its  proper  limitations.  But  the  obligation 
resting  on  the  Baptist  denomination  is  far  higher  than  this.  It 
extends  not  merely  to  matters  of  detail,  but  to  those  of  vital  interest. 
Tlie  history  of  religious  literature  and  of  Christian  scholarship 
has  been  a  history  of  Baptist  wrongs.  We  have  been  overlooked, 
ridiculed,  and  defamed.  Critics  have  committed  the  grossest  per- 
versions, violated  the  plainest  rules  of  criticism,  and  omitted  points 
which  could  not  have  been  developed  without  benefit  to  us.  His- 
torians who  have  professed  to  write  the  history  of  the  Church 
have  either  utterly  ignored  the  presence  of  those  of  our  faith,  or 
classed  them  among  fanatics  and  heretics ;  or,  if  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge the  prevalence  of  our  principles  and  practice  among  the 
earliest  churches,  have  adopted  such  false  theories  as  to  church 
power,  and  the  development  and  growth  of  the  truth  and  principles 
of  Scripture,  that  by  all,  save  their  most  discerning  readers,  our 
pretensions  to  an  early  origin  and  a  continuous  existence  have 
been  rejected. 

"  The  Baptists  in  the  past  have  been  entirely  too  indifierent  to 


SOUTHEKN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.      137 

the  position  thoy  thus  occupy.  They  have  depended  too  much 
upon  the  knovvu  strength  of  their  principles,  and  the  ease  with 
which  from  Scripture  they  could  defend  them.  They  have  therefore 
neglected  many  of  those  means  which  extensive  learning  affords, 
and  which  have  been  used  to  great  advantage  in  support  of  other 
opinions.  It  is  needless  to  say,  gentlemen,  that  we  can  no  longer 
consent  to  occupy  this  position.  We  owe  a  change  to  ourselves, 
—  as  Christians,  bound  to  show  an  adequate  reason  for  the  dif- 
ferences between  us  and  others ;  as  men  of  even  moderate 
scholarship,  that  it  may  appear  that  we  have  not  made  the  gross 
errors  in  philology  and  criticism  which  we  must  have  made  if 
we  be  not  right  ;  as  the  successors  of  a  glorious  spiritual  ancestry, 
illustrated  by  heroic  martyrdom,  by  the  profession  of  noble  prin- 
ciples, by  the  maintenance  of  true  doctrines ;  as  the  Church  of 
Christ,  which  he  has  ever  preserved  as  the  witness  for  his  truth, 
by  which  he  has  illustrated  his  wonderful  ways,  and  shown  that 
his  promises  are  sure  and  steadfast.  Nay,  we  owe  it  to  Christ 
himself,  whose  truth  we  hold  so  distinctively  as  to  separate  us 
from  all  others  of  his  believing  people  ;  to  whom  we  look  con- 
fidently to  make  these  principles  triumphant ;  for  whose  sake,  on 
their  account,  men  have  been  ever  found  among  us  willing  to  sub- 
mit to  banishment,  imprisonment,  or  martyrdom  ;  and  for  whose 
sake,  in  defence  of  the  same  truth,  w^e  are  willing  now  to  bear  the 
scorn  and  reproach,  not  of  the  world  only,  but  even  of  those  who 
love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

He  proceeds  to  inquire  how  this  object  can  be 
accomplished :  — 

''  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  any  pLin  which  can 
be  devised  must  be  based  upon  the  presence  in  the  institution 
of  a  good  theological  library,  —  one  which  shall  not  only  be 
filled  with  the  gathered  lore  of  the  past,  but  also  endowed  with 
the  means  of  annual  increase.  Without  this,  no  institution 
can  pursue  extensive  courses  of  study,  or  contribute  anything 
directly  to  the  advancement  of  learning.  The  professor  is  cut  off 
from  valuable  and  necessary  books,  and  the  student  hindered 
from  making  even  the  least  important  investigations  in  the 
course  of  study  he  is  pursuing. 

''  The  plan  I  propose  to  you  supposes  the  possession  of  such  a 


138  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

library ;  and  this,  even  if  it  be  such,  is  its  only  peculiar  item  of 
expense.  Taking  the  idea  from  the  provision  made  in  some  of 
our  institutions  for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that  an  additional  course  of  study  might  be  provided  for 
those  who  may  be  graduates  of  theological  institutions.  This 
course  might  extend  over  one  or  two  years,  according  to  the 
amount  of  study  the  student  may  propose  to  accomplish.  In 
it  the  study  of  the  Oriental  languages  might  be  extended  to  the 
Arabic  and  the  Syriac.  The  writing  of  exegetical  theses  would 
furnish  subjects  for  investigation,  and  give  a  more  ample  acquaint- 
ance with  the  original  text  and  with  the  laws  of  its  interpretation. 
The  text-books  or  lectures  studied  in  Systematic  and  Polemic 
Theology  could  be  compared  with  kindred  books,  the  theories  of 
opponents  examined  in  their  own  writings,  and  notes  taken  for 
future  use  from  rare  and  costly  books.  These  and  similar  studies, 
which  should  be  laid  down  in  a  well-digested  course,  would  bestow 
accurate  scholarship,  train  the  student  in  the  methods  of  origi- 
nal investigation,  give  him  confidence  in  the  results  previously 
attained,  and  open  to  him  resources  from  which  he  might  draw 
extensively  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures,  and  in  setting  forth  the 
truths  they  contain.  The  result  would  be  that  a  band  of  scholars 
M'ould  go  forth,  from  almost  every  one  of  whom  we  might  expect 
valuable  contributions  to  our  theological  literature. 

''It  is  to  be  expected  that  but  few  would  take  advantage  of 
this  course.  Such  would  certainly  be  the  case  at  first.  The  only 
result  would  be  that  but  little  additional  provision  will  be  needed. 
Two  additional  recitations  a  week  for  each  of  three  or  four  pro- 
fessors would  be  more  than  adequate.  And  though  such  students 
should  not  be  more  than  a  twentieth  part  of  those  graduated, 
though  not  more  than  one  each  year,  will  not  their  value  to 
the  denomination  more  than  counterbalance  the  little  additional 
attention  which  will  thus  be  given  ?  " 

It  is  then  farther  shown  that  these  arrangements  would 
help  to  train  missionaries,  such  as  may  wish  to  translate  the 
Scriptures  into  heathen  languages,  or  to  encounter  learned 
and  able  teachers,  heathen  or  Mohammedan.  This  would 
also  give  special  training  of  various  kinds  to  men  suited 
to  become  professors  in  our  colleges,  seminaries,  etc. 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       139 

The  third  change,  proposed  by  this  address,  to  be  made 
in  theoh^gical  institutions  was  that  a  ''declaration  of 
doctrine  "  shoukl  be  adopted,  which  persons  assuming 
professorships  should  be  required  to  sign,  pledging  them- 
selves to  teach  in  accordance  with,  and  not  contrary  to, 
the  doctrines  thus  laid  down.  It  is  urged  as  very  desir- 
able that  every  particular  church  among  us  should  have 
some  statement  of  doctrine  in  which  its  members  may  be 
instructed.  It  is  shown  to  be  still  more  important  to 
examine  carefully  the  men  about  to  be  ordained  as  min- 
isters, in  order  to  see  whether  they  are  sound  in  the 
faith, —  a  duty  generally  recognized  among  us,  and  more 
or  less  faithfully  performed  by  churches  and  ordaining 
presbyteries.  And  then  it  is  argued,  a  fortiori,  that  above 
all  we  ought  to  ascertain  and  guard  the  doctrinal  sound- 
ness of  a  theological  instructor. 

''  But  the  theological  professor  is  to  teach  ministers,  — to  place 
the  truth,  and  all  the  eiTors  connected  with  it,  in  such  a  manner 
before  his  pupils  that  they  shall  arrive  at  the  truth  without  dan- 
ger of  any  mixture  of  error  therewith.  He  cannot  do  this  if  he 
have  any  erroneous  tendencies,  and  hence  his  opinions  must  be 
expressly  affirmed  to  be,  upon  every  point,  in  accordance  with 
the  truth  we  believe  to  be  taught  in  the  Scriptures." 

This  point  is  strongly  set  forth  and  strikingl}^  illus- 
trated, as  follows :  — 

"It  is  with  a  single  man  that  error  usually  commences ;  and 
when  such  a  man  has  influence  or  position,  it  is  impossible  to 
estimate  the  evil  that  will  attend  it.  Ecclesiastical  history  is  full 
of  warning  upon  this  subject.  Scarcely  a  single  heresy  has  ever 
blighted  the  Church  which  has  not  owed  its  existence  or  its 
development  to  that  one  man  of  power  and  ability  whose  name 
has  always  been  associated  with  its  doctrines.  And  yet,  seldom 
has  an  opinion  been  thus  advanced  which  has  not  subsequently 
had  its  advocate  in  every  age,  and  which  iu  some  ages  has  not 
extensively  prevailed. 


140  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

"  The  history  of  our  own  denomination  in  this  country  furnishes 
ail  illustration.  Playing  upon  the  prejudices  of  the  weak  aud 
ignorant  among  our  people,  decrying  creeds  as  an  infringement 
upon  the  rights  of  conscience,  making  a  deep  impression  hy 
his  extensive  learning  and  great  abilities,  Alexander  Campbell 
threatened  at  one  time  the  total  destruction  of  our  faith.  Had 
he  occupied  a  chair  in  one  of  our  theological  institutions,  that 
destruction  might  have  been  completed.  There  would  have  been 
time  to  disseminate  widely  and  fix  deeply  his  principles,  before  it 
became  necessary  to  avow  them  publicly  ;  and  when  this  neces- 
sity arrived,  it  would  have  been  attended  by  the  support  of  the 
vast  majority  of  our  best  educated  ministers.  Who  can  estimate 
the  evil  which  would  then  have  ensued  ? 

"  The  danger  which  threatened  in  this  instance  may  assail  us 
again.  Another  such,  and  yet  another,  may  arise,  aud,  favored 
by  better  circumstances,  may  iustil  false  principles  into  the  minds 
of  his  pupils,  and,  sending  them  forth  to  occupy  the  prominent 
pulpits  of  the  land,  may  influence  all  our  churches,  and  the  fair 
fabric  of  our  faith  may  be  entirely  demolished. 

"  This  it  is  that  should  make  us  tremble  when  we  think  of  our 
theological  institutions.  If  there  be  any  instrument  of  our  denom- 
inational prosperity  which  we  should  guard  at  every  point,  it  is 
this.  The  doctrinal  sentiments  of  the  Faculty  are  of  far  greater 
importance  than  the  proper  investment  and  expenditure  of  its 
funds;  and  the  trusts  devolved  upon  those  who  watch  over  its 
interests  should  in  that  respect,  if  in  any,  be  sacredly  guarded." 

He  thus  concludes  as  to  the  third  proposed  change :  — 

''It  is  therefore,  gentlemen,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the 
position  of  Baptists,  as  well  as  of  Bible  Christians,  that  the  test 
of  doctrine  I  have  suggested  to  you  should  be  adopted.  It  is 
based  upon  principles  and  practices  sanctioned  by  the  authority 
of  Scripture  and  by  the  usage  of  our  people.  In  so  doing,  you 
will  be  acting  simply  in  accordance  with  propriety  and  righteous- 
ness. You  will  infringe  the  rights  of  no  man,  and  you  will  secure 
the  rights  of  those  who  have  established  here  an  instrumentality 
for  the  production  of  a  sound  ministry.  It  is  no  hardship  to 
those  who  teach  here  to  be  called  upon  to  sign  the  declaration  of 
their  principles  ;  for  tliere  are  fields  of  usefulness  open  elsewhere 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       141 

to  every  man,  and  none  need  accept  your  call  who  cannot  con- 
scientiously sign  your  formulary.  And  while  all  this  is  true,  you 
will  receive  by  this  an  assurance  that  the  trust  committed  to  you 
by  the  founders  is  fulfilling  in  accordance  with  their  wishes, 
that  the  ministry  that  go  forth  have  here  learned  to  distinguish 
truth  from  error,  and  to  embrace  the  former,  and  that  the  same 
precious  truths  of  the  Bible  which  were  so  dear  to  the  hearts  ot 
its  founders,  and  which  I  trust  are  equally  dear  to  yours,  will  be 
propagated  in  our  churches,  giving  to  them  vigor  and  strength, 
and  causing  them  to  flourish  by  the  godly  sentiments  and  emo- 
tions they  will  awaken  within  them.  May  God  impress  you 
deeply  with  the  responsibility  under  which  you  must  act  in 
reference  to  it !  " 

Among  the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  address,  the  fol- 
lowing ought  assuredly  to  be  quoted.  We  have  seen  that 
B.  Manly,  Jr.,  had  made  similar  suggestions  in  his  address 
at  Charleston;  and  experience  goes  to  show  that  the  point 
in  question  is  of  very  great  importance. 

'^  It  will  be  perceived  that  the  great  peculiarity  of  the  plans 
proposed  is  that  they  contemplate  gathering  all  our  students 
into  a  single  institution.  The  courses  of  study  are  all  to  be 
pursued  conjointly.  The  several  classes  of  young  men  are  to  be 
thrown  together  in  the  pursuit  of  their  respective  studies.  It  is 
for  this,  as  opposed  to  any  other  method,  that  I  would  strenuously 
contend.  The  object  is  not  the  centralization  of  power  in  a  single 
institution,  for  I  believe  the  adoption  of  these  changes  will  make 
many  seminaries  necessary.  I  advocate  a  single  one  now,  because 
the  demand  for  more  than  one  does  not  exist.  But  it  is  that  our 
young  men  may  be  brought  into  closer  contact  with  each  other. 
Various  prejudices  are  arising  in  our  denomination  among  the 
various  classes  of  the  ministry.  This  would  be  my  scheme  to 
remove  them.  The  young  men  should  be  so  mingled  together  as 
to  cause  each  class  to  recognize  the  value  of  the  others,  and  thus 
truly  to  break  down  entirely  any  classification.  Those  who  take 
the  plain  English  course  will  see  the  value  of  learning  in  the 
increased  facilities  for  study  it  affords  to  their  more  favored 
companions.     Those  who  have  this  learning  will  sec  that  many 


142  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

of  the  other  class  are  their  superiors  in  piety,  in  devotion  to  God, 
in  readiness  to  sacrifice  for  his  cause,  in  willingness  to  be  counted 
as  nothing,  so  that  Christ  may  be  preached.  The  recognition  of 
such  facts  will  be  mutually  beneficial.  The  less-educated  min- 
isters will  feel  that  they  have  the  confidence  and  affection  of  all 
their  brethren;  the  better-educated  will  know  the  esteem  with 
which  they  are  regarded ;  and  the  bonds  of  mutual  love  will 
yearly  grow  stronger,  until  we  shall  see  a  ministry  of  different 
gifts,  possessed  of  extensive  attainments,  thrown  into  entirely 
different  positions  in  the  field,  yet  laboring  conjointly,  mutually 
aiding  and  supporting  one  another  in  advancing  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  in  preaching  his  glorious  gospel,  in  calling  forth  laborers 
into  his  field,  and  in  fostering  those  influences  which  shall  tend 
to  the  education  of  a  sound  and  practical  and  able  ministry." 

This  address  by  Professor  Boyce  proved  to  be  epoch- 
making  in  the  history  of  theological  education  among 
Southern  Baptists.  He  was  accustomed  to  say,  in  conver- 
sation on  the  subject,  that  his  ideas  had  been  partly 
derived  from  his  revered  instructor,  President  Wayland,  of 
Brown  University,  to  whom  we  have  seen  that  he  always 
felt  himself  in  many  ways  very  greatly  indebted.  Besides 
the  general  effect  of  his  lectures  and  conversations  upon 
the  quite  similarly  constituted  mind  of  young  Boyce  when 
a  student,  President  Wayland  had,  three  years  before  the 
delivery  of  Boyce's  inaugural,  given  a  notable  address  at 
the  University  of  Eochester,  by  request  of  the  New  York 
Baptist  Union  for  Ministerial  Education,  entitled,  ''  The 
Apostolic  Ministry.''  In  this  he  had  shown  that  our  strong 
denominational  belief  in  a  divine  call  to  the  ministry 
ought  to  have  an  important  bearing  upon  our  methods  of 
ministerial  education. 

''If  we  are  willing  to  follow,  and  not  to  lead,  the  Spirit  of 
God,  —  that  is,  if  we  educate  no  man  for  the  ministry  until  we  are 
satisfied,  not  that  he  may  he,  but  that  he  has  been,  called  of  God 
to  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel,  —  we  shall  always  have 
among  our  candidates  a  large  number  of  those  who  have  passed 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       143 

the  period  of  youth,  and  for  whom  the  studies  of  youth  would 
be  unsuitable,  if  not  useless.  Yet  these  are  the  very  men  to 
whom  appropriate  culture  would  be  specially  valuable.  Others, 
in  various  degrees,  have  been  more  favored  with  preparatory 
education,  and  the  means  for  more  extended  discipline.  The 
means  and  advantages  of  our  candidates  must  therefore  be  exceed- 
ingly dissimilar.  If,  then,  we  would  labor  to  give  to  the  ministry 
the  means  of  improvement,  we  must  provide  those  means  for 
them  all.  A  system  of  ministerial  education  adapted  to  the  con- 
dition of  but  one  in  twenty  of  our  candidates,  commences  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  doing  but  one-twentieth  part  of  its  work, 
and  of  helping  those  only  who  have  the  least  need  of  its  assis- 
tance. We  should  therefore  provide,  for  all  our  brethren  whom 
God  has  called  to  this  service,  the  best  instruction  in  our  power; 
adapted,  as  far  as  possible,  not  to  any  theoretical  view,  but  to  the 
actual  condition  of  the  mass  of  our  candidates,  leaving  each  indivi- 
dual, in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  and  pious  discretion,  to  deter- 
mine the  extent  to  which  he  is  able  to  avail  himself  of  our 
services.  While  means  should  be  fully  provided  for  pursuing  an 
extended  course  of  education,  we  must  never  lose  sight  of  the 
large  number  of  our  brethren  to  whom  an  extended  course  would 
be  impossible." 

These  views  of  Dr.  Way  land  excited  at  the  time  consi- 
derable newspaper  discussion  on  the  part  of  educators,  the 
discourse  being  printed  in  tract  form  and  widely  circulated. 
They  probably  had  some  effect  upon  the  existing  Baptist 
Theological  Schools,  in  making  them  less  unwilling  to 
receive  students  for  a  partial  course.  But  our  Baptist' 
Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries  in  America  had  fol- 
lowed very  closely  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
pattern,  built  upon  ideas  brought  from  England  and 
Scotland;  and  any  departure  from  the  curriculum,  and 
introduction  of  men  imperfectly  prepared,  to  pursue  an 
irregular  course,  was  generally  regarded  with  disfavor 
on  the  part  of  presidents  and  professors.  Dr.  Wayland 
had  several  years  earlier  made  an  earnest  effort  to  intro- 
duce different  ideas  and  methods,  through  the  re-organiza- 


144  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

tion,  in  1850,  of  Brown  University.  He  travelled  over  the 
United  States,  visiting  many  universities  and  colleges, 
and  finallj^  succeeded  in  introducing  at  Brown  a  thoroughly 
elective  method,  quite  similar  to  that  which  for  twenty-five 
years  had  been  in  successful  operation  at  the  University 
of  Virginia.^  We  have  seen  that  he  recognized  in  "The 
Apostolic  Ministry  "  the  propriety  of  allowing  a  theologi- 
cal student  to  exercise  some  discretion  as  to  the  extent 
of  his  theological  studies.  In  a  famous  series  of  articles 
published  in  ''  The  Examiner, ''  and  collected  into  a  volume 
in  October,  1856,  entitled  ''Principles  and  Practices  of 
Baptist  Churches,"  he  speaks  sarcastically  about  the  exist- 
ing theological  seminaries :  — 

''  If,  however,  a  suggestion  in  respect  to  them  might  be  made 
without  presumption,  I  would  ask,  could  they  not  be  rendered 
more  efficient  ?  By  the  tables  already  referred  to,  they  graduate 
annually  about  one  student  and  a  half  to  each  officer  of  instruc- 
tion. Could  not  this  proportion  be  somewhat  exceeded?  The 
labor  of  teaching  such  classes  cannot  be  oppressive;  might  not 
other  courses,  adapted  to  other  classes  of  students,  be  introduced  ? 
So  long  as  our  seminaries  admit  none  but  those  who  have  pursued 
a  collegiate  course  or  its  equivalent,  their  number  of  students  must 
be  small,  and  the  labor  of  instructors  not  burdensome.  ...  If  it 
might  be  done  without  offence,  I  would  ask,  might  not  more 
direct  effort  be  exerted  to  make  preachers  ?  —  I  say  preachers,  in 
distinction  from  philologists,  translators,  professors,  teachers,  and 
writers  on  theology.  Other  professional  schools  aim  to  render 
men  able  in  the  practice  of  their  several  professions.  .  .  .  Why 
sliould  not  the  theological  school  aim  more  simply  at  making 
good  and  effective  preachers  ?     Men  need  instruction  and  practice 

1  The  writer  remembers  the  feeling  of  denominational  pride  Avith 
which,  as  a  student  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  he  was  introduced  to 
the  famous  president  and  author,  and  gazed  upon  his  commanding  form 
and  noble  face  while  he  sat  in  a  lecture-room.  Dr.  Gessner  Harrison 
and  Dr.  McGuffey  explained  to  Dr.  Wayland,  in  extended  conversa- 
tions, sought  by  him,  the  nature  and  working  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  plans 
of  elective  education. 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       145 

in  the  every-day  duties  of  the  ministry.  They  should  acquire  the 
power  —  and  it  is  a  great  power  —  of  unwritten,  earnest,  effective 
speech." 

He  expressed  gratification  that  in  Newton  particularly 
arrangements  were  now  made  for  the  especial  improvement 
of  theological  students  who  have  not.  passed  through  a 
collegiate  course. 

While  Dr.  Wayland's  ideas  were  in  general  rejected,  we 
thus  perceive  that  they  had  some  effect;  and  through  the 
years  that  have  followed,  professors  in  various  Baptist 
Theological  Schools  have  earnestly  striven  to  do  their  hest 
for  the  less-prepared  students.  They  have  been  embarrassed 
in  this  by  the  fact  that  all  their  work  rested  on  the  basis 
of  a  curriculum;  but,  whether  cheerfully  or  reluctantly, 
they  have  labored  in  this  direction.  The  recent  exclusion 
from  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary  of  all  who  have 
not  been  prepared  by  a  college  course  or  its  equivalent; 
the  arrangement  in  the  Kewton  Theological  Institution 
by  which  less-f)repared  students  are  entirely  separated  from 
the  others,  and  taught  in  separate  classes;  and  various  other 
indications, — show  that  our  able  and  honored  Baptist  breth- 
ren engaged  in  theological  education  have  deeply  felt  the 
difficulty  of  admitting  irregulars  upon  the  basis  of  a  curri- 
culum. And  yet  the  ideas  set  forth  by  Dr.  Wayland  have 
not  ceased  to  live  among  thoughtful  Baptists  of  the  great 
Xorth  and  i^orthwest.  Indeed,  he  and  Professor  Boyce 
were  but  interpreting  the  fundamental  Baptist  ideas  of  the 
ministry.  And  wherever  Baptists  have  striven  to  confine 
their  ministry  to  men  regularly  trained  in  college  and 
seminary,  they  are  still  comparatively  limited  in  numbers ; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  wherever  they  have  encouraged  every 
man  to  preach  who  felt  called  of  God  to  preach,  whom  his 
church  indorsed  as  suitable,  and  a  presbytery  as  sound, 
and  whom  the  people  were  willing  to  hear,  —  there  the 
Baptists  have  grown  rapidly,  and  are  a  people  mighty,  at 

10 


146  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES    P.   BOYCE. 

least  in  numbersj  and  great  in  their  possible  future.  ISTo 
one  need  be  surprised  if  among  our  Northern  brethren 
there  should  come  any  year  a  new  utterance  of  ideas  like 
those  of  Dr.  Wayland,  and  new  plans  for  getting  hold  in 
some  way  of  the  many  ministers  who  cannot  —  or  (what  is 
for  independent  Baptists  equivalent)  will  not  —  go  through 
a  regular  course  at  college  and  seminary. 

Some  Baptist  educators  in  the  Southern  States  were  in 
like  manner  wedded  to  the  idea  of  restricting  our  exertions 
to  the  thorough  training  of  well-prepared  men;  but  in 
general  the  history  of  Baptist  progress  in  the  South  and 
Southwest  —  the  vast  number  of  ''self-educated"  or  ''un- 
educated "  ministers  who  had  been  very  useful,  together 
with  the  spirit  of  local  independence  which  pervades  great 
agricultural  regions,  and  the  disposition  of  Southern  na- 
tures to  delight  much  in  the  oratorical  fervor  which  may 
be  manifested  without  high  mental  training — led  many 
thoughtful  men  among  Southern  Baptists,  in  the  ministry 
and  out  of  it,  to  see  the  wisdom  of  Bo3^ce's  ideas.  More- 
over, these  ideas  were  embodied  in  a  representative  quali- 
fied in  an  extraordinary  manner  —  by  gifts  and  character, 
by  training  and  personal  influence,  bj?-  youthful  vigor,  com- 
bined with  practical  wisdom  —  to  carry  these  ideas  into 
effect.  A  long  struggle  was  before  him,  which  if  foreseen 
might  well  have  been  deemed  hopeless.  But  we  can  now 
perceive  that  in  him,  and  the  older  and  younger  men  of 
whom  he  would  become  the  leader,  and  in  the  situation 
and  aspirations  of  Southern  Baptists,  there  existed  the 
elements  of  success. 

We  return  now  to  the  proposition  —  which,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Professor  Boyce,  had  been  made  by  the  South 
Carolina  Baptist  State  Convention,  and  directed  to  be 
laid  before  the  proposed  convention  in  Louisville  in  the 
following  May  —  that  the  South  Carolina  Baptists  would 
give  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  endowment  of 
a  common    theological    institution    at    Greenville    (incor- 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       147 

porating  therein  the  theological  department  of  Fiirman 
University),  provided  that  an  additional  hundred  thousand 
should  be  raised  elsewhere. 

The  Educational  Conv^ention  held  in  Louisville,  May, 
1857,  in  connection  with  the  sessions  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  included  eighty-eight  delegates,  from 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas,  from  Georgia  and 
Alabama,  from  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas, 
from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  Much  interest  was  ex- 
cited by  the  fact  that  a  definite  and  generous  proposition 
had  been  made  by  the  South  Carolina  brethren,  together 
with  the  assurances  of  Professor  Boyce  and  others  that  the 
money  needed  from  that  State  could  be  raised.  A  great 
desire  was  felt  to  push  the  now  hopeful  movement  into 
practical  operation  as  speedil}^  as  possible.  After  much 
earnest  discussion,  it  was  agreed  to  propose  the  establish- 
ment of  the  desired  theological  institution  at  Greenville, 
S.  C,  in  the  following  year,  provided  that  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  should  be  raised  in  that  State  by 
May  1,  1858,  ready  to  be  j^laced  in  the  hands  of  trustees. 
The  interest  of  this  money  (seven  thousand)  was  to  be 
used  for  the  support  of  three  professors,  for  the  purchase 
of  books  (not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  annually), 
and  for  paying  a  proper  agency  in  the  other  States  to 
secure  the  hundred  thousand  dollars  which  was  to  be  raised 
elsewhere;  provided,  also,  that  recitation  and  lecture  rooms 
could  be  secured  in  Greenville  free  of  rent  for  some  years. 
It  was  further  arranged  that  if  the  remaining  hundred 
thousand  should  not  be  made  up  within  three  years,  then 
the  endowment  furnished  from  South  Carolina  should 
revert  to  the  Furman  University,  for  theological  purposes, 
and  the  contributions  collected  elsewhere  to  their  respec- 
tive donors.  These  arrangements  show  Boyce's  hand 
throughout.  They  were  bold  and  inspiring,  and  yet 
carefully  guarded.  It  was  then  proposed  that  a  special 
educational   convention  should  be   held  at  Greenville  in 


148  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

May,  1858,  to  organize  the  desired  institution,  provided 
the  South  Carolina  Baptist  Convention  should  accept 
these  conditions.  Committees  of  five  were  appointed  to 
prepare  a  plan  of  organization,  to  nominate  professors,  k) 
secure  from  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  an  appropriate 
charter,  to  provide  for  a  suitable  agency  in  other  States, 
and  to  issue  an  address  to  Southern  Baptists.  In  an- 
nouncing the  Committee  on  Plan  of  Organization,  the 
President,  Dr.  B.  Manly,  Sr.,  said  apologetically  that  he 
had  appointed  comparatively  young  men,  because  it  was 
proposed  to  form  a  new  institution  suited  to  the  wants  of 
our  own  ministry,  and  young  men  were  more  likely  to  be 
successful  in  devising  new  plans.  So  he  announced  J.  P. 
Boyce,  J.  A.  Broadus,  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  E.  T.  Winkler, 
William  Williams.  This  is  worth  mentioning  because, 
as  will  hereafter  appear,  these  five  were  destined  to  be 
elected  as  professors  in  the  Seminary,  and  four  of  them  to 
serve.  Probably  the  wise  old  heads  of  the  Convention 
had  their  plans  already;  but  certainly  one  member  of  the 
committee  had  no  thought  of  such  a  thing. 

Dr.  Jeter  prepared  a  ringing  address  to  Southern  Bap- 
tists. He  showed  that  a  common  institution  was  de- 
manded, and  brethren  had  for  a  number  of  years  been 
earnestly  striving  to  compass  its  establishment.  The 
scheme  now  proposed  was  feasible,  having  been  unani- 
mously approved  by  a  body  ''which  commenced  its  ses- 
sion with  very  conflicting  views.''  It  was  also  eminently 
promising,  for  Greenville  would  be  a  very  desirable  loca- 
tion, as  to  accessibility,  health,  and  cheapness  of  living. 
He  stated  that  the  Seminary  was  to  be  organized  upon  a 
new  plan :  — 

''  Being  free  from  the  shackles  imposed  by  the  old  systems  and 
established  precedents,  and  having  all  the  lights  of  experience 
and  observation  to  guide  us,  we  propose  to  foimd  an  institution 
suited  to  the  genius,  wants,  and  circumstances  of  our  denomina- 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.       149 

tion;  in  which  shall  be  taught  with  special  attention  the  true 
principles  of  expounding  the  Scriptures  and  the  art  of  preaching 
efficiently  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 

He  guarded  a  point  on  which  some  natural  apprehension 

was  felt :  — 

''  This  scheme  will  interfere  with  no  existing  institution.  It 
does  not  propose  to  curtail  the  labors  or  influence  of  any  of  our 
State  colleges.  Some  of  them  will  probably  continue  to  give,  as 
they  have  heretofore  done,  a  limited  course  of  theological  instruc- 
tion, and  those  who  find  it  desirable  will  avail  theiriselves  of  its 
benefits.  But  it  is  proposed  in  the  Greenville  institution  to 
furnish  a  more  thorough  course  of  instruction  than  any  as  yet 
adopted  in  our  State  seminaries ;  and  also  perhaps  a  more  limited 
course  for  those  students  whose  age  and  circumstances  will  not 
permit  them  to  pursue  an  extended  course.  ...  On  the  whole, 
we  cannot  but  think  that  the  divine  hand  has  guided  us  thus 
far.  Obstacles  seemingly  insuperable  have  been  removed  out  of 
the  way,  conflicting  opinions  and  interests  have  been  harmonized, 
and  a  blight  and  cheering  prospect  of  success  has  suddenly  opened 
before  us.  It  only  remains  that  we  should  trustfully  follow  the 
divine  guidance." 

In  July  the  State  Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion in  South  Carolina  adopted  the  Louisville  modification 
of  their  proposal,  and  appointed  Rev.  J.  P.  Boyce  as  agent 
to  collect  the  needed  $70,000.  He  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion as  professor  in  the  University,  but  the  Trustees 
declined  to  accept,  and  authorized  him  to  act  according  to 
his  own  judgment  in  regard  to  the  agencj^  work  during  the 
coming  year.  He  probably  had  very  little  time  for  teach- 
ing in  the  course  of  the  next  session.  We  know  that  in 
his  two-horse  buggy,  driven  by  a  servant,  he  travelled  far 
and  wide  over  South  Carolina,  visiting  out-of-the-way 
churches,  and  planters  on  remote  plantations,  and  throwing 
all  the  energies  and  resources  of  his  being  into  what  was 
then  and  there  a  very  large  and  difficult  undertaking.     It 


150  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

was  no  doubt  often  with  a  sense  of  heavy  sacrifice  that  the 
young  husband  and  father  left  the  bright  home  he  loved 
so  well,  with  the  alreadj'-  rich  store  of  choice  books  in 
which  he  so  delighted,  for  these  laborious  and  not  always 
successful  journeys.  He  no  doubt  cheered  himself  with 
the  thought  that  all  this  would  be  only  for  part  of  one 
year.  If  he  had  foreseen  that  after  a  season  of  great  and 
ruinous  calamities  he  would  have  to  spend  a  considerable 
part  of  every  3'ear  in  like  absences  for  the  Seminary's  sake, 
to  wear  himself  out  for  it,  with  all  manner  of  heavy  sacri- 
fices, one  does  not  know  whether  even  that  strong  and 
brave  young  heart  could  have  faced  the  life-long  task. 
Our  ignorance  of  the  future  is  often,  under  the  leadings  of 
God's  providence,  a*  necessary  condition  of  our  worthiest 
undertakings  and  largest  successes. 

In  August,  1857,  Professor  Boyce  called  a  meeting  in 
Richmond,  Ya.,  of  the  committee  on  the  Plan  of  Organi- 
zation of  the  proposed  Seminary.  He  had  requested  B. 
Manl}^,  Jr.,  to  draw  np  an  abstract  of  doctrinal  principles, 
to.be  signed  by  each  professor;  had  undertaken  himself 
to  devise  the  legal  and  practical  arrangements  in  regard  to 
trustees  and  professors ;  and  had  requested  J.  A.  Broadus 
to  prepare  the  outline  of  a  plan  of  instruction.  The  last- 
mentioned  had  suggested  at  Louisville  that  the  "changes" 
proposed  in  Boyce's  address,  especially  the  apparently  dif- 
ficult matter  of  uniting  all  grades  of  theological  students 
in  the  same  institution,  could  be  effected  through  a  plan 
adapted  from  that  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  with  which 
he  was  familiar.  The  other  two  members  of  the  committee 
did  not  come.  We  met  in  Richmond,  at  the  residence  of 
Manly,  who  was  Principal  of  the  Richmond  Female 
Institute,  and  discussed  together  the  portions  which  each 
had  provisionally  drawn  np.  Through  their  experience  as 
students  at  Newton  and  Princeton,  Boyce  and  Manly  were 
able  to  make  valuable  emendations  of  the  plan  of  elective 
education  for  a  theological  school,  which  after  much  study 


SOUTHERN   BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.      151 

of  theological  catalogues  had  been  drawn  in  substantial 
imitation  of  the  method  pursued  in  the  great  University, 
—  by  that  time  nearing  the  height  of  its  distinction,  hav- 
ing as  many  students  as  were  then  found  at  Harvard  or 
Yale,  and  sending  its  graduates  to  be  professors  in  colleges 
and  universities  all  over  the  South. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure,  during  those  days  of  earnest 
conference,  to  enter  into  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
young  professor,  to  recognize  his  energy  and  wisdom,  his 
courtesy  and  delicacy,  his  broad  view^s  of  every  question, 
his  eager  desire  to  make  this  institution  a  success  beyond 
all  precedent,  his  true-hearted  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

The  last  in  this  long  series  of  eduGational  conventions 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  common  theological  sem- 
inary was  held  in  Greenville,  S.  C,  May  1st,  1858.  It 
was  a  time  of  general  revival  throughout  the  South,  and 
many  pastors  were  on  that  account  kept  from  carrying  out 
their  known  purpose  of  attending  the  convention.  But 
Dr.  G.  W.  Samson  was  there  from  Washington,  w^ho  had 
attended  two  or  three  previous  conventions  for  this  purpose, 
and  had  manifested  the  greatest  interest  in  the  enterprise. 
Drs.  Jeter  and  Poindexter  and  four  others  were  present 
from  Virginia,  with  two  from  IsTorth  Carolina,  one  from 
Louisiana,  one  from  Georgia  (Professor  William  Williams 
of  Mercer  University),  and  thirty-three  from  different 
bodies  in  South  Carolina. 

The  object  of  this  convention  was  to  adopt  a  plan  of 
organization  for  the  Seminary,  to  elect  professors,  and 
provide  for  its  going  into  operation  the  following  autumn. 
The  plan  of  organization  proposed  by  the  committee  was 
carefully  discussed,  at  many  points,  by  a  committee  for  the 
purpose,  and  by  the  whole  convention.  Drs.  Poindexter  and 
Samson  were  particularly  earnest,  various  others  also  taking 
part,  in  discussing  the  Abstract  of  Principles;  and  Dr. 
Samson  remembers  the  special  interest  that  was  taken  in 


152  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  F.   BOYCE. 

the  article  about  the  Doctrine  of  Imputation,  which  nine 
years  before  had  been  discussed  in  two  long  series  of 
articles  in  the  ^'  Southern  Baptist,"  when  young  Boyce  was 
its  editor.  Some  brethren  in  the  convention  had  their 
doubts  about  the  wisdom  of  arranging  no  curriculum,  but 
a  number  of  distinct  departments,  or  schools,  in  each  of 
w^hich  a  separate  diploma  or  certificate  of  proficienc}'- 
should  be  given.  But  Boyce  had  heartily  accepted  a  plau 
which  promised  to  make  it  easy  for  students  of  every  grade 
of  preparation  to  study  together  in  the  same  institution, 
and  for  the  most  part  in  the  same  classes ;  and  many  others 
cheerfully  accepted  the  scheme.  The  final  vote  as  to  every 
part  of  the  organization  is  believed  to  have  been  unan- 
imous; but  the  discussions  had  been  so  free  and  full  as 
to  occupy  five  days. 

Instead  of  three  professors,  as  had  been  suggested  at 
Louisville,  Boyce  boldly  proposed  the  appointment  of  four 
professors.  He  had  obtained  nearly  all  of  the  requisite 
$70,000,  and  was  sure  of  the  rest  in  a  few  weeks.  Part 
had  been  paid  in  cash,  and  the  remainder  was  held  in 
bonds  bearing  seven  per  cent  interest.  He  felt  confident 
that  special  contributions  for  income  could  be  had,  if  neces- 
sary^ ;  and  his  boldness,  m  planning  was  upheld  by  the  fact 
—  one  not  very  common  in  the  case  of  young  ministers 
founding  institutions  —  that  he  had  a  large  private 
income.  He  had  made  arrangements  for  securing,  with- 
out rent,  the  recently  vacated  house  of  worship  of  the 
Greenville  Baptist  Church,  which  was  just  then  entering 
its  new  and  beautiful  building.  This  small  but  well-built 
house  could  be  adapted  with  little  cost  to  use  for  lecture- 
rooms  and  library.  He  stated  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
Seminary  ought  to  abstain  from  spending  money  upon 
buildings  until  it  should  first  have  secured  an  ample 
endowment  for  support  of  the  instruction.  In  heartj^ 
approval  of  this  idea,  an  expression  was  thrown  out  by  one 
of  the  speakers,  whieli  was  repeated  years  afterwards  in 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,      loo 

New  York,  uiul  lias  spread  all  over  the  country.  Kev. 
Thomas  Curtis,  D.D.,  a  member  of  the  convention,  andPrin- 
cijjal  of  the  Limestone  (S.  C.)  Female  Institute,  was  an 
Englishman,  a  man  of  commanding  appearance  and  abil- 
ities. He  said,  with  sonorous  English  tones  and  rolling 
r's,  ''The  requisites  for  an  institution  of  learning  are 
three  6's,  — bricks,  books,  brains.  Our  brethren  usually 
begin  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  three  b^s',  they  spend  all 
their  money  for  bricks,  have  nothing  to  buy  books,  and 
must  take  such  brains  as  they  can  pick  up.  But  our 
brethren  ought  to  begin  at  the  other  end  of  the  three  Z^'s." 

Seven  years  later,  when  the  question  was  of  undertaking 
to  carry  on  the  Seminary  after  the  war,  with  the  endowment 
lost,  and  in  a  land  swept  as  by  a  cyclone,  it  was  remem- 
bered with  special  gratitude  that  Boyce's  plan  had  been 
adopted  in  regard  to  buildings;  for  even  a  few  thousand 
dollars  of  debt  would  then  have  sunk  the  enterprise 
beyond  redemj^tion. 

Hon.  A.  B.  Woodruff  remembers  that  during  the  dis- 
cussions Boyce  once  spoke,  according  to  his  plans  and 
hopes,  of  ''the  great  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Semi- 
nary." Dr.  Basil  Manly,  Sr.,  who  was  presiding,  checked 
him,  —  "Don't  say  r/reat  until  you  succeed  in  your  work 
of  endowment.  When  you  have  your  Seminar}^  safely  en- 
dowed, I  don't  care  if  you  write  '  great '  with  a  pencil  as 
long  as  a  streak  of  lightning;  but  don't  sa}^  it  3^et." 

Upon  nomination  by  a  committee  of  leading  men,  the 
convention  unanimously  elected  four  j)rofessors,  — J.  P. 
Boyce,  J.  A.  Broadus,  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  E.  T.  Winkler.  It 
has  been  often  said  that  but  for  the  presence  of  William 
Williams  upon  the  nominating  committee  (lie  being  the 
only  delegate  present  from  Georgia),  he  would  have  been 
nominated  and  elected.  However  that  may  be,  Winkler 
would  have  filled  with  great  ability  the  chair  of  Church 
History,  and  of  Church  Government  and  Pastoral  Duties, 
as  Williams  afterwards  did. 


154  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

But  Winkler  promptly  declined  the  election.  Another 
one  of  those  elected  carried  the  matter  home  as  a  great 
burden,  because  Poin dexter  and  others  were  pressing  it 
upon  him,  and,  after  weeks  of  anxious  consideration,  felt 
bound  to  decline  also.  As  only  Bojce  aiid  Manly  had 
accepted,  it  was  thought  best  to  delay  for  another  year  the 
opening  of  the  Seminary.  The  income  could  thus  be  used 
for  more  extensive  and  efficient  agency  in  collecting  the 
hundred  thousand  dollars  from  other  States.  The  Board 
of  Trustees,  which  the  Convention  had  appointed,  was  to 
hold  its  first  meeting  in  connection  with  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  at  Richmond,  in  May,  1859,  and 
could  then  fill  the  vacant  chairs.  Boyce  had  placed  it 
among  the  fundamental  and  unalterable  regulations  of  the 
Seminary  that  a  professor  should  not  be  elected  except  at 
a  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  Board.  So  it  was  hoped 
that  by  a  year's  delay  the  Seminary  might  open  in  a  satis- 
factory condition.  When  the  Board  met  at  E-ichmond 
they  re-elected  Broadus  and  Winkler;  as  the  latter  again 
declined,  they  elected  William  Williams.  Eew,  if  any, 
theological  seminaries  in  the  United  States  had  at  that 
time  more  than  four  professors.  Boyce  reported  tli^ 
finances  as  in  a  very  hopeful  condition;  and  the  Seminary 
seemed  likely  to  open,  the  following  autumn,  with  good 
prospects. 


THE   SEMINARY'S  PLAN   OF  INSTRUCTION.       155 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   seminary's  PLAN   OF   INSTRUCTION 

WE  have  seen  that  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary  was  organized  with  the  avowed  view  of 
giving  theological  instruction  to  young  ministers  in  every 
grade  of  general  education.  Men  thoroughly  prepared  by 
college  studies  or  their  equivalent  were  to  have  as  extensive 
and  thorough  a  theological  course  as  could  be  found  else- 
where. Men  who  were  entering  the  ministry  with  only  a 
partial  college  training,  or  without  having  attended  col- 
lege at  all,  were  to  have  an  opportunity  of  carefully  study- 
ing the  English  Scriptures,  and  all  the  other  branches  of 
theology  for  which  they  were  prepared.  Men  who  could 
attend  the  Seminarj^  only  a  single  year  must  be  welcomed 
to  such  theological  studies  as  would  give  them  the  best 
practical  training  for  their  work.  It  was  thought  to  be 
highly  important  that  all  these  grades  of  students  should 
live  together  in  the  same  institution,  and,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, study  together  in  the  same  classes,  seeing  that  tin's 
would  tend  to  prevent  invidious  distinctions  in  the  min- 
istry, would  promote  mutual  appreciation,  and  prepare  for 
an  intelligent  and  cordial  co-operation.  But  the  question 
was,  how  could  all  this  be  effected?  To  establish  a  cur- 
riculum suited  to  college  graduates,  and  then  to  carry 
along  in  the  same  institution  a  number  of  men  who  knew 
no  Greek  or  Latin,  probably  no  psychology  or  logic,  some 
of  them  having  only  the  plainest  English  education,  would 
obviously  be  a  surpassingly  difficult  task;  and  the  experi- 
ments which  had  been  tried  in  one  or  two  Baptist  theo- 


15G  MEMOIli  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

logical  schools  were  understood  to  be  hardly  encouraging. 
Thoughtful  men  who  had  read  President  Way  laud's  ad- 
dress on  *'The  Apostolic  Ministry,"  and  who  now  found 
Professor  Boyce's  address  on  ''Three  Changes  in  Theolo- 
gical Institutions,"  setting  forth  more  fully  and  forcibly 
tiie  need  of  some  such  arrangement,  and  earnestly  assert- 
ing that  surely  the  thing  could  somehow  be  managed, 
were  asking  each  other  the  question,  in  correspondence 
and  conversation,  how  can  it  be  done?  How  can  we  pre- 
vent the  less  thoroughly  prepared  students,  and  the  men 
designing  only  a  single  session's  work,  from  feeling  them- 
selves to  be  placed  in  an  inferior  position,  from  being 
discouraged  rather  than  stimulated,  by  their  proximity  to 
the  regular  students  in  the  regular  course?  How  save  the 
men  pursuing  their  curriculum  from  being  hindered  and 
embarrassed  by  the  presence  of  these  others,  especially  if 
reciting  in  the  same  classes  ? 

The  attempt  was  made  to  solve  all  these  real  difficulties 
by  a  thoroughly  elective  system,  patterned  after  that  which 
had  for  thirty  years  been  in  highly  successful  operation  at 
the  University  of  Virginia.  The  term  ''elective"  has  of 
late  3^ears  become  common  in  many  universities  and  col- 
leges, and  some  theological  schools,  to  denote  studies,  not 
all  required  as  part  of  the  curriculum,  but  a  certain  num- 
ber of  which  may  be  chosen  by  each  student,  in  addition 
to  those  required,  so  as  to  make  out  his  complete  course. 
But  something  very  different  is  meant  when  we  say  that 
all  the  studies  of  this  Theological  Seminary  were  to  be 
elective.  One  who  really  cares  to  understand  the  plan 
upon  which  this  institution  was  organized,  and  upon 
which  it  has  ever  since  been  consistently  carried  on,  must 
lay  aside  all  other  conceptions  of  elective  studies,  and 
look  a  moment  at  the  elective  method  here  in  question. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  Seminary  should  comprise 
eight  distinct,  and  in  a  sense  independent,  departments 
of  instruction,   or  schools,   namely :  — 


THE   SEMINARY'S  PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION.        157 

I.  Biblical  Introduction.  In  this  school  would  be  tauglit  the 
Canon  of  Scripture  and  Inspiration,  with  Biblical  Geography  and 
Antiquities,  etc. 

II.  Interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament.  Here  there  would 
be  two  classes,  —  (1)  The  Interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament 
in  English  ;  (2)  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  and  Hebrew  Exegesis.  It 
was  added  that  other  Oriental  languages,  as  Arabic,  Syriac,  etc., 
might  also  be  taught. 

III.  Interpretation  of  the  Ne\A'  Testament.  (1)  Interpreta- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  in  English.  (2)  New  Testament 
Greek,  and  Greek  Exegesis. 

IV.  Systematic  Theology.  (1)  A  general  course,  in  which 
the  instruction  should  not  presuppose  any  acquaintance  with  the 
learned  languages.  (2)  A  special  and  more  erudite  course,  in 
which  there  might  be  read  theological  works  in  the  Latin,  etc. 

V.  Polemic  Theology  and  Apologetics. 

VI.  Homiletics,  or  Preparation  and  Delivery  of  Sermons. 

VII.  Church  History. 

VIII.  Church  Government  and  Pastoral  Duties. 

"  In  each  of  these  schools  a  separate  diploma  shall  be  given  to 
those  students  who  exhibit,  upon  due  examination,  a  satisfactory 
acquaintance  with  the  studies  of  that  school.  In  those  schools 
which  comprise  two  classes,  a  general  and  a  special  course,  the 
diploma  shall  require  a  competent  knowledge  of  both ;  while  to 
those  whose  attainments  extend  only  to  a  general  or  English 
course,  there  shall  be  awarded  a  Certificate  of  Proficiency." 

From  this  it  will  appear  that  the  English  classes,  in  the 
Bible  and  in  S^'stematic  Theology,  were  not  at  all  designed 
as  a  makeshift  for  persons  who  could  not  pursue  a  more 
thorough  course.  The  diploma  in  any  such  school  must 
cover  both  the  general  and  the  special  course.  The  study 
of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures  would  not  constitute 
the  regular  and  sufficient  course,  for  which  some  study 
of  the  English  Scriptures  might  be  substituted  by  men 
having  no  acquaintance  with  Hebrew  or  Greek;  but  the 
study  of  the  English  Scriptures  was  recommended  to  all 
students,  and  required  of  those  who  pursued  Hebrew  and 


158  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

Greek  Exegesis  also,  if  they  desired  the  Diploma  in  Old 
Testament  or  in  New  Testament,  or  the  General  Diploma 
of  the  Seminary,  which  w^as  to  be  given  to  those  who  had 
obti^ined  diplomas  in  all  the  separate  schools. 

It  was  left  entirely  free  for  any  student,  if  he  chose,  to 
study  in  only  the  Hebrew  or  the  Greek  class,  omitting  the 
English;  ,though  in  that  case  no  di^^loma  would  be  given. 
In  point  of  fact,  not  one  student  in  a  hundred  of  those 
entering  the  Seminary  through  its  whole  history  has  failed 
to  enter  the  classes  for  study  of  the  English  Eible;  and 
no  one  has  ever  thought  of  studying  the  more  erudite 
course  in  Systematic  Theologj^,  without  also  taking  the 
general  or  English  course.  The  Seminary's  classes  in  the 
English  Bible  have  proved  to  be  one  of  its  most  marked 
features.  The  course  runs  over  the  entire  Old  Testament 
or  !N'ew  Testament  history,  locating  the  Prophets,  etc.,  and 
the  Epistles,  where  they  most  probablj^  belong  in  chrono- 
logical relation  to  the  history,  dividing  the  history  into 
periods,  analyzing  each  book  into  its  natural  divisions, 
studying  a  book  as  a  whole,  and  a  group  of  books  in  their 
relation  to  each  other,  and  taking  in  general  such  broad 
views  of  Scripture  as  are  not  possible  for  those  who  have 
in  hand  only  the  partially  known  Hebrew  or  Greek.  At 
the  same  time  as  much  exercise  as  possible  is  given  in 
the  careful  exegesis  of  particular  passages  and  of  entire 
books.  As  the  students  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  classes 
in  this  way  have  gained,  or  are  at  the  same  time  gaining, 
so  much  general  knowledge  of  the  Bible  in  English,  they 
can  afford  to  bestow  more  attention  upon  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  languages  themselves,  than  if  they  must  hurry  on  to 
exegesis.  While  having  abundant  specimens  of  exegetical 
study  of  the  originals,  they  can  be  especially  trained  to 
make  exegesis  for  themselves,  by  thorough  and  prolonged 
study  of  the  language  in  hand.  It  was  soon  found  that  a 
good  many  college  graduates,  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
possessed  a  quite  inadequate  acquaintance  with  Greek.    So, 


THE   SEMINARY'S  PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION.       159 

after  a  few  years  the  original  plan  of  having  the  course 
in  every  school  completed  in  one  session  was  abandoned 
so  far  as  concerned  Greek  and  Hebrew,  each  of  these  being 
divided  into  a  Junior  and  a  Senior  class.  Yet  one  who 
brings  a  really  good  knowledge  of  Greek  can  of  course 
enter  the  Senior  class  at  once ;  and  in  a  few  rare  cases  this 
has  been  done  by  students  of  Hebrew. 

It  was  confidently  hoped  at  the  outset  that  by  this 
completely  elective  plan  the.  thoroughly  prepared  students 
would  be  able  to  pursue  their  separate  special  studies  in 
the  Bible  and  Sj'stematic  Theology,  without  being  at  all 
hindered  by  the  presence  of  so  many  other  students  in 
other  classes.  Indeed,  the  plan  seems  at  once  to  insure 
such  a  result.  But  it  was  soon  found,  as  the  years  went  on, 
that  more  than  this  was  gained  by  the  arrangement.  As  the 
whole  course  could  be  studied,  except  the  special  classes 
in  Hebrew  and  Greek  and  in  ''Latin  Theology,''  by  in- 
telligent men  having  only  an  ''English  education,''  men 
were  not  pressed  into  studying  the  original  languages 
without  some  real  talent  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
language,  and  some  strong  personal  desire  to  know  Hebrew 
and  Greek.  Even  the  Junior  classes  in  those  languages 
thus  included  only  persons  impelled  to  enter  them  by 
personal  aspiration.  Added  to  this  natural  selection 
was  the  further  selection  of  those  who  advanced  from 
the  Junior  to  the  Senior  classes  in  Greek  and  Hebrew. 
Consequently,  these  Senior  classes  can  be  carried  over  a 
much  wider  and  more  thorough  range  of  learned  study  than 
would  be  possible  if  the  class  comprised  also  a  number  of 
men  who  were  members  of  it  only  as  a  thing  necessary  to 
obtaining  a  diploma,  or  to  taking  a  respectable  position 
before  their  fellow-students  and  the  country.  It  has  thus 
been  found  that  the  system  of  free  choice  has  greatly 
promoted  true  scholarship,  while  lessening  the  number  of 
nominal  scholars.  Persons  who  give  a  moment's  careless 
observation  or  reflection  to  this  Seminary,  which  admits  so 


160  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

large  a  number  of  mere  English  scholars,  have  often  taken  it 
for  granted  that  the  whole  thing  must  be  of  comparatively- 
low  grade.  The  reason  is  that  the  idea  of  a  curriculum 
underlies  all  their  thinking  on  the  subject;  and  so  they 
take  for  granted  that  a  course  which  begins  so  low  will  of 
necessity  be  prevented  from  reaching  very  high.  Yet  the 
completely  and  consistently  elective  system  is  found  to 
work  exactly  otherwise ;  and  those  who  are  willing  to  give 
the  matter  some  attention  must  sooner  or  later  find  that 
such  is  the  case. 

In  all  the  other  schools  of  this  Seminary  —  i.  e.,  except 
Old  Testament,  New  Testament,  and  Systematic  Theology 
—  it  was  arranged  that  there  should  be  only  one  class  for 
all  grades  of  students,  as  indeed  all  study  together  also  in 
the  general  or  English  classes  of  the  three  schools  just 
excepted.  Critics  having  little  or  no  experience  in  the 
matter  often  take  for  granted  that  men  of  such  various 
qualifications  cannot  without  great  difficulty  hear  the  same 
lectures  and  take  part  in  the  same  recitations  and  exami- 
nations. The  real  difficulties  are  found  to  be  very  slight, 
compared  with  the  great  advantages  of  throwing  all  the 
students  together  in  these  various  departments.  The  less 
erudite  men  soon  find  that  work  will  tell,  and  that  they 
can  often  share  very  comfortably  in  a  recitation  with  some 
college  graduate.  At  the  same  time,  they  have  occasion 
to  observe  the  advantage  possessed  by  fellow-students,  or 
the  professor,  from  an  acquaintance  with  the  learned  lan- 
guages ;  and  every  year  there  are  some  men,  endowed  with 
a  natural  talent  for  language,  who  quit  after  one  session, 
and  go  off  to  college  for  a  thorough  course,  or  who  go 
to  work,  by  private  instruction  or  resolute  unaided  study, 
to  master  Greek,  some  of  them  with  real  success.  Others 
who  come  as  college  graduates,  soon  find,  and  show,  that 
they  have  really  little  talent  for  language,  and  when  dis- 
posed to  leave  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  confine  them- 
selves to  the  English  course,  they  are  not  dissuaded.    Thus 


THE   SEMINARY'S  PLAN   OF  INSTRUCTION.        IGl 

the  elements  move  freely  up  and  down.  Men  do  that  for 
which  they  have  preparation,  turn  of  mind,  and  time  or 
patience ;  and  get  credit  for  exactly  what  they  do.  Every 
year  some  men  come  for  a  single  session,  and  are  led  to 
complete  an  English  or  a  full  course.  Every  year  some 
enter  for  a  full  course,  and  leave  at  the  end,  or  before  the 
end,  of  the  first  session.  Here,  as  in  the  New  Testament 
form  of  Church  Government,  the  benefits  of  freedom  far 
outweigh  its  inconveniencies.  The  free  choice  of  studies, 
provided  for  by  James  P.  Boyce  and  his  associates,  has 
shown  itself  thoroughly  adequate  to  furnish  theological 
education  for  students  of  very  diverse  grades  as  to  prepa- 
ration, all  in  the  same  institution  and  for  the  most  part 
in  the  same  classes. 

But  thoroughly  elective  education  necessarily  requires 
that  the  graduation  be  made  difficult.  Without  this,  the 
more  aspiring  men  will  be  tempted  to  undertake  too 
much,  —  which  is  one  of  the  chief  snares  of  an  elective 
system.  As  to  the  bulk  of  students,  they  will  lack  the 
impulse  given  by  a  curriculum  which  bears  the  whole 
mass  along  together,  and  so  they  must  have  a  more  power- 
ful individual  stimulus  in  the  difficulty  of  graduation. 
Such  has  always  been  the  experience  of  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  so  likewise  in  this  Seminar}^  A  man  must 
pass  independently  in  each  of  the  schools  before  he  can 
receive  a  general  diploma.  No  allowance  can  be  made  in 
one  subject  for  his  having  done  well  in  others.  Accord- 
ingly, in  the  Seminary  as  in  the  University,  it  is  the  rule 
to  have  in  every  school,  or  class  of  a  school,  an  intermediate 
and  a  final  written  examination,  lasting  nine  or  ten  hours, 
with  a  brief  oral  examination  in  addition  upon  certain 
subjects.  These  written  examinations  are  a  severe  test 
of  a  man's  acquaintance  with,  the  whole  course  of  stud}"  in 
that  school  or  class,  and  his  power  of  satisfactorily  stating 
what  he  knows,  A  man  who  has  in  the  course  of  three  or 
four  years  reached  the  degree  of  Full  Graduate  in  the  Semi- 

11 


162  MEMOIR  OF   JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

nary  lias  passed  more  than  twenty  of  these  all-day  written 
examinations.  Every  question  is  separately  valued,  on 
a  scale  of  one  hundred  for  the  whole;  and  his  paper  must 
be  worth  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent  on  the  whole  in 
order  to  pass.  Many  fail  to  pass  who  have  yet  studied 
with  great  profit.  The  result  of  all  this  is  that  the  num- 
ber of  general  graduates  will  seem  small  in  proportion  to 
the  whole  number  of  students,  when  looked  at  by  persons 
familiar  only  with  a  curriculum.  Some  students  remain 
only  one  or  two  sessions;  some  pass  in  various  subjects, 
but  fail  in  others.  As  a  whole,  the  students  are  power- 
fully stimulated  by  the  high  standard  of  graduation. 
Those  who  obtain  a  diploma  know  that  it  means  some- 
thing. Those  who  fail  to  obtain  it  often  feel,  and  some- 
times voluntarily  say,  that  they  would  rather  fail  with  a 
high  standard  than  succeed  with  a  low  one. 

At  first  it  was  arranged  to  have  only  one  general  di- 
ploma, with  the  title  of  Full  Graduate,  to  be  given  to  those 
who  had  obtained  separate  diplomas  in  all  the  separate 
schools.  In  the  year  1876  it  was  provided  that  the  degree 
of  English  Graduate  should  be  given  to  students  who  have 
been  graduated  in  all  the  schools  except  the  classes  of 
Hebrew  and  Greek  and  the  class  called  ''Latin  The- 
ology." This  has  perhaps  prevented  a  few  students  from 
studying  the  original  languages,  since  they  could  obtain  a 
general  degree  without  it;  but  it  has  certainly  led  a  good 
many  to  remain  two  or  three  years,  and  complete  all  the 
schools  required  for  ''English  Graduate, '^  who  would 
otherwise  have  left  sooner  or  omitted  some  subjects.  In 
the  year  1890  a  further  provision  was  made  for  the  degree 
of  Eclectic  Graduate.  This  is  given  to  those  who  have 
been  separately  graduated  in  the  Junior  classes  of  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  in  Systematic  Theology  (the  general  or  Eng- 
lish class).  Church  History,  and  Homiletics,  and  in  any 
four  of  the  remaining  nine  schools  or  classes.  The  degree 
can  be  taken  in  two  years  by  a  well-prepared  student, 


THE   SEMINARY'S  PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION.        1G3 

otherwise  in  three  years.  It  gives  as  mucli  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  and  New  Testament  Greek  as  is  gained  in  the 
majority  of  theological  institutions,  and  prepares  the  stu- 
dent to  use  the  elaborate  learned  commentaries,  and, 
if  he  will  keep  up  these  studies,  to  use  the  original  in 
examining  his  texts;  while  yet  he  is  not  required  to  work 
through  the  extensive  and  difficult  course  of  the  Senior 
classes  in  Hebrew  and  Greek.  Some  excellent  students, 
who  are  pressed  by  lack  of  time  or  means,  can  thus  in  two 
years  obtain  a  highly  valuable  degree.  Some  content 
themselves  with  this  who  might  perhaps  otherwise  have 
remained  and  toiled  through  the  entire  eight  schools 
(thirteen  classes) ;  but  others  are  encouraged,  by  finding 
that  they  can  take  this  degree,  to  remain  and  com- 
plete the  whole  range  of  study  for  the  degree  of  Full 
Graduate.  All  works  freely,  with  the  occasional  dis- 
advantages of  freedom,  but  with  its  constant  and  high 
advantages. 

Besides  these  eight  schools  (thirteen  classes),  which 
constitute  the  range  of  study  required  for  the  degree  of 
Full  Graduate,  there  have  been  established  numerous 
special  departments,  such  as  of  late  years  have  been  intro- 
duced in  various  other  theological  seminaries.  In  this 
Seminary  there  are  now  thirteen  of  these  special  studies, 
including  the  Arabic,  Aramaic,  Assyrian,  Coptic,  and 
Modern  Greek  languages.  Patristic  Greek  and  Patristic 
Latin,  Old  Testament  Prophecy,  Textual  Criticism  of  the 
New  Testament,  Foreign  Hymnology  (Latin  and  Greek 
Hymns,  German  and  French  Hymns),  History  of  Doc- 
trines, Historical  Seminary  (original  researches  and  essays 
in  Church  History),  and  Theological  German  (two  classes 
for  reading  German  works  in  Exegesis,  Systematic  or 
Practical  Theology,  Church  History,  etc.).  In  each  of 
these  special  departments  the  Faculty  has  authority  to 
give  a  separate  diploma;  and  so  in  other  departments, 
which  may  be  organized  as  needed.     But  these  special 


164  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

diplomas  cannot  be  substituted  for  any  part  of  the 
range  of  study  required  in  order  to  the  degree  of  Full 
Graduate. 

In  May,  1892,  the  Board  of  Trustees  established  a  new 
system  of  titles.  The  degree  of  English  Graduate  is  to 
carry  the  title  of  Th.  G.,  or  Graduate  in  Theologj^;  the 
degree  of  Eclectic  Graduate,  that  of  Th.  B.,  or  Bachelor 
in  Theology;  the  degree  of  Full  Graduate,  that  of  Th.  M., 
or  Master  in  Theology, —  corresponding  very  much  to  the 
famous  old  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  to  the  similar  M.  A.  in  several  Southern 
colleges.  And  any  one  who,  after  taking  the  Master's 
degree,  remains  as  a  close  student  in  the  Seminary  for  at 
least  one  whole  session  of  eight  months,  and  has  been 
graduated  in  at  least  five  of  the  special  departments  above 
mentioned  (the  choice  to  be  approved  by  the  Faculty), 
and  who,  furthermore  and  especially,  has  prepared  a  satis- 
factory thesis,  presenting  the  results  of  original  research 
or  original  thought  in  some  subject  connected  with  theo- 
logical studies,  shall  receive  the  degree  of  Th.  D.,  or 
Doctor  in  Theology. 

As  originally  organized,  the  Seminary  had  no  president, 
but  Professor  Boyce  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 
In  May,  1888,  the  title  was  changed  to  that  of  President, 
but  with  the  express  provision  that  the  government  should 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Faculty.  Several  colleges 
have  in  like  manner  imitated  the  University  of  Virginia 
by  having  only  a  Chairman  of  the  Faculty.  This  was 
Mr.  Jefferson's  democratic  reaction  against  the  autocratic 
power  exercised  by  some  presidents  of  universities  or 
colleges,  not  only  as  to  discipline,  but  as  to  the  appoint- 
ment and  removal  of  professors.  In  theological  schools, 
where  there  are  usually  but  few  professors,  and  very  little 
has  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  discipline,  it  is  best  that  the 
faculty  should  govern  the  institution,  whatever  title  may 
be  given  to  the  presiding  officer.     But  in  a  university  or 


THE   SEMINARY'S   PLAN   OF  INSTRUCTION.       165 

college  there  is  much  reason  for  thinking  it  desirable  to 
have  a  real  president,  who  shall  give  unity  to  the  general 
work,  and  shall  be  the  recognized  representative  of  the 
institution,  busily  canvassing  for  students,  and  striving, 
through  personal  acquaintance  and  influence,  to  obtain 
additional  gifts  for  endowment  and   support. 


166  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   seminary's   THREE   FIRST    SESSIONS,    1859-1862. 

THE  new  Seminary  opened  at  Greenville  with  many 
encouragements.  The  long  series  of  efforts  to 
secure  a  common  institution  awakened  greater  interest 
than  if  it  had  been  easily  and  promptly  established.  The 
leading  pastors,  educators,  and  private  brethren  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  successive  conventions  now  gave  the  in- 
stitution a  cordial  support.  The  fact  that  its  plan  of 
instruction  had  been  specially  arranged  to  meet  the  wants 
of  Baptist  ministers  in  all  grades  of  general  education, 
and  seemed  well  adapted  to  that  desirable  end,  awakened 
high  hopes  of  something  more  wddely  useful  than  had 
previously  existed.  The  South  Carolina  contribution  of 
$100,000  for  the  endowment  had  all  been  provided,  in 
cash  or  in  the  seven-per-cent  bonds  of  planters,  —  a 
first-class  security.  Considerable  progress  had  been  made 
in  several  other  States  towards  raising  the  remaining 
$100,000,  and  there  was  no  fear  of  failure. 

Greenville  was  found  to  be  a  pretty  town  of  some  three 
thousand  inhabitants,  spreading  out,  in  Southern  fashion, 
over  several  pleasing  hills.  Through  the  midst  flowed  a 
bright  stream,  called  the  Reedy  River,  a  branch  of  the 
Saluda.  Within  the  limits  of  the  town  it  formed  a  con- 
siderable waterfall,  supplying  mills  of  different  kinds. 
Erom  the  hills  there  is  a  fine  view  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  some 
thirty  miles  away,  whose  beautiful  proportions  and  charm- 
ing color  are  a  perpetual  delight.  The  mountains  are  there 
about  as  high  as  in  Central  Virginia,  the  loftiest  portions 
lying  between,  in  North  Carolina.     Some  five  miles  north- 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE  FIRST  SESSIONS.       1G7 

west  of  the  town  is  Paris  Mountain, — a  short  out-lying  range 
of  the  Blue  Kidge,  particularly  well  adapted  to  the  growth 
of  peaches  and  other  fruits  of  the  vicinage.  Among  other 
persons  living  upon  this  mountain  was  General  AVaddy 
Thompson,  who  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  and 
minister  to  Mexico,  and  who  liked  to  be  told  by  the 
guests  who  enjoyed  his  cordial  hospitalities  that  his 
mountain  abode  reminded  them  of  Monticdllo,  the  home 
of  Thomas  Jefferson.  General  Thompson's  former  resi- 
dence in  the  edge  of  Greenville  had  been  purchased  some 
years  before  by  Professor  Boyce,  the  large  and  airy  wooden 
house,  with  its  broad  gardens  and  spacious  lawn  and  grand 
forest  trees,  making  a  beautiful  Southern  abode.  There 
were  many  other  admirable  residences  in  the  town,  most  of 
them  furnished  with  ample  encompassing  space,  in  which 
from  early  spring  were  bright  flowers  and  luxuriant  shrub- 
bery. The  buildings  recently  erected  for  Furman  Univer- 
sity had  an  admirable  site  south  of  the  river,  and  their 
architectural  symmetry  and  general  effect  were  uncom- 
monly pleasing.  The  proximity  to  the  mountains  gives  a 
considerable  elevation  to  the  localit}^,  the  hills  and  ravines 
make  a  perfect  drainage,  the  sandy  streets  and  grounds 
quickl}^  absorb  falling  rain,  and  the  place  is  healthy  in  a 
ver}^  high  degree.  A  railroad  had  been  completed  some 
two  or  three  years  before,  which  connected  the  town  with" 
Columbia  and  Charleston,  and  so  by  a  circuitous  route 
with  the  North  and  the  South  and  West.  The  people  of 
Greenville  presented  an  uncommonly  large  proportion  of 
intelligent  and  refined  families.  The  place  was  in  all 
respects  well  suited  to  be  the  seat  of  educational  insti- 
tutions, and  besides  the  University  and  the  Theological 
Seminary  there  was  a  prosperous  Female  College,  with  a 
good  building. 

The  old  Baptist  house  of  worship  had  been  divided  by 
partitions  into  two  lecture-rooms  and  a  library.  The 
theological  portion  of  the  library  of  Furman  University 


168  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

had  been  turned  over,  amounting  to  some  two  thousand 
volumes,  and  the  following  summer,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  G.  W.  Samson,  the  Columbian  College  of  Washington 
City  presented  nearly  two  hundred  volumes,  including 
several  sets  of  complete  works  of  the  highest  value.  The 
now  large  private  library  of  Dr.  Boyce  was  a  treasure  to 
his  colleagues  in  pursuing  the  studies  connected  with 
their  several  schools.  The  four  professors  Avere  all  young, 
and  full  of  enthusiasm  for  their  new  undertaking,  while 
none  of  them  was  without  considerable  experience  in 
preaching  and  instruction.  The  Baptist  Colleges  of  the 
South  had  amiably  recognized  their  destitution  of  all  titles 
of  dignity,  and  at  the  Commencements  of  May  and  June 
had  made  each  of  them  a  D.D.      Surely  all  was  now  ready. 

The  preparation  of  James  P.  Boj^ce  for  this  position 
appears  from  all  that  we  have  seen  of  his  history  and 
character.  Becall  his  thorough  general  education  at  the 
College  of  Charleston  and  at  Brown  University,  his  useful 
experience  as  editor  in  Charleston  and  full  theological 
course  at  Princeton,  his  four  years  as  pastor  in  Columbia, 
and  now  four  years  as  theological  professor  in  Furman 
University,  two  of  them  spent  in  laborious  teaching  there, 
and  two  in  agency  work  for  the  proposed  institution.  He 
presented  a  remarkable  combination  of  business  talent, 
with  thorough  education  and  wide  reading,  and  with 
experience  as  a  preacher  and  professor,  and  was  singularly 
adapted  to  be  at  once  the  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  and 
Treasurer  of  the  Seminar}?-,  and  its  Professor  of  Systematic 
and  of  Polemic  Theology. 

We  have  seen  that  Basil  Manly,  Jr.,  now  thirty-three 
years  old,  had  been  graduated  at  the  State  University  of 
Alabama,  and  had  taken  a  full  theological  course  at  Newton 
and  Princeton.  After  a  rich  pastoral  experience,  including 
four  years  in  the  famous  First  Baptist  Church  of  Richmond^ 
Va.,  he  had  now  been  for  five  years  the  principal  of  the 
E/ichmond  Female  Institute,  taking  a  large  part  in  the 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE  FIRST  SESSIONS.       IGO 

higher  instruction.  He  was  already  well  known  to  be  a 
man  of  great  versatility  and  varied  attainments,  as  strong 
in  will  as  he  was  gentle  in  spirit,  and  sure  to  be  warmly 
loved  by  his  associates  and  pupils. 

AVilliam  Williams  was  now  thirty-eight  years  old,  a 
native  of  Georgia,  and  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Georgia.  He  practised  several  years  as  a  lawyer,  having 
been  graduated  in  the  Law  School  of  Harvard  University. 
From  1851  he  was  a  pastor  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and 
since  1856  had  been  Professor  of  Theology  in  Mercer  Uni- 
versity, then  located  at  Penfield,  Ga.  His  legal  studies 
and  practice  had  disciplined  his  great  mental  acuteness. 
He  had  extraordinary  power  in  the  clear  and  terse  state- 
ment of  truth,  and  when  kindled  in  preaching  or  lecturing 
he  spoke  with  such  intensity  as  is  rarely  equalled.  He 
Avas  also  a  man  of  great  purity  of  character,  certain  to 
command  the  profoundest  respect. 

John  A.  Broadus  was  thirty-two  years  old,  being  a  few 
days  younger  than  Boyce.  A  native  of  Virginia,  and  from 
early  youth  a  school-teacher  by  inheritance,  he  had  been 
graduated  in  1850  as  M.  A.  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 
After  another  year  of  teaching  he  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  at  Charlottesville,  the  seat  of  the  University,  from 
1851  to  1859.  During  the  first  two  years  of  this  period 
he  was  also  assistant-instructor  in  Latin  and  Greek,  under 
the  revered  guidance  of  the  famous  Dr.  Gessner  Harrison. 
For  the  two  years  from  1855  to  1857  he  again  resided  in 
the  University  as  chaplain,  his  place  in  the  Charlottesville 
church  being  filled  by  Eev.  A.  E.  Dickinson.  Then  two 
remaining  years  in  Charlottesville,  and  he  went  to  the 
Seminary. 

The  number  of  students  for  the  first  session  was  twenty- 
six,  which  Dr.  Boyce  found,  upon  examination,  to  be  a  mucli 
larger  number  than  had  attended  the  first  session  of  any 
other  theological  school  in  America.  Ten  of  these  were 
from  Virginia,  three  from  North  Carolina,  nine  from  South 


170  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Carolina,  one  from  Florida,  two  from  Alabama,   and  one 
from  Missouri. 

True  to  the  design  of  the  Seminary,  there  were  among 
these  students  men  of  the  most  varied  general  preparation. 
W.  L.  Ballard,  of  South  Carolina,  whose  name  comes  first 
on  the  list,  was  a  plain  country  pastor,  perhaps  fort3'-five 
years  old,  a  deeply  pious  man  and  a  deeply  earnest  student, 
who  remained  one  session;  and  in  the  country  churches 
accustomed  to  hear  him  it  was  freely  said  the  next  year 
that  his  preaching  was  most  wonderfull}'  improved.  Let 
him  stand  as  a  representative  case  of  one  thing  which  the 
Seminar}^  set  itself  to  do,  of  a  class  of  students  for  whom 
the  professors  have  through  all  the  years  often  thanked 
God.  Several  were  men  of  whom  the  faculty  afterwards 
knew  little;  but  most  of  them  doubtless  filled  places  of 
usefulness  in  their  several  States,  and  could  not  fail  to 
have  been  som*ewhat  benefited.  A  considerable  proportion 
remained  only  the  one  session.  K.  B.  Boatwright  has 
been  just  such  a  lovable  and  useful  pastor  in  Virginia  as 
he  promised  to  be,  and  has  cause  to  rejoice  in  a  bril- 
liant son,  who  is  professor  in  Eichmond  College.  J.  A. 
Cliambliss,  of  Alabama,  remained  two  years,  and  was  the 
Seminary's  first  Full  Graduate,  being  a  man  of  fine  powers, 
and  well  prepared..  The  course  was  afterwards  so  extended 
in  several  departments  that  no  other  student  has  ever 
become  Full  Graduate  in  two  years,  except  two  men  who 
brought  a  good  knowledge  of  Hebrew.  Dr.  Chambliss  has 
filled  a  number  of  important  pastorates  in  different  South- 
ern States,  including  four  years  in  Kichmond  and  ten 
years  in  Charleston,  and  he  is  now  pastor  at  East  Orange, 
N.  J.  W.  L.  Curry  had  been  a  student  at  Princeton,  and 
remained  two  years  at  the  Seminary,  being  graduated  in  a 
number  of  schools.  He  has  been  useful  as  a  pastor  of 
various  country  and  village  churches,  chiefly  in  Georgia. 
Kufiis  Figh,  of  Alabama,  came  from  Howard  College,  and 
remained  two  sessions,  and  was  a  much  beloved  and  very 


THE   SEMINAKY'S  THREE   FIKST  SESSIONS.       171 

useful  pastor  in  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Texas,  down  to 
Lis  death  in  1889.  G.  W.  Hyde,  of  ^lissouri,  remained 
three  sessions,  and  was  the  second  Full  Graduate ;  he  was 
a  chaplain  in  the  Confederate  Army  in  Virginia  during  the 
last  three  years  of  the  war,  and  has  since  been  greatly 
beloved  in  Missouri  as  pastor  of  various  churches,  and  as 
General  Agent  for  State  Missions  or  Home  Missions. 
Hilary  E.  Hatcher,  of  Virginia,  came  as  a  graduate  of 
Eichmond  College,  and  remained  at  the  Seminary  two 
sessions,  being  graduated  in  most  of  the  principal  schools; 
he  was  then  a  chaplain  in  General  Lee's  army,  and  after 
the  war  preached  to  churches  in  Orange  County,  Va.,  till 
his  death,  in  1892.  J.  Wm.  Jones,  of  Virginia,  had  been 
for  some  years  a  student  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
and  remained  one  year  in  the  Seminary,  being  graduated 
in  a  number  of  schools;  he  was  chaplain  in  Lee's  army 
throughout  the  war,  then  pastor  at  Lexington,  Va.,  for 
several  years,  and  afterwards  at  other  points,  and  is  now 
the  widely  known  Assistant-Secretary  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sion Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  at  At- 
lanta, and  author  of  several  highly  popular  and  useful 
books;  Dr.  Jones  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
alumnus  to  send  a  son  to  the  Seminary,  and  of  having  had 
up  to  the  present  time  four  sons  in  all  .who  attended  it  as 
students.  Kobert  H.  Marsh,  of  Is'orth  Carolina,  came 
from  the  University  of  that  State,  and  remained  in  the 
Seminary  two  sessions,  being  graduated  in  several  schools; 
he  w^as  chaplain  in  the  Confederate  army  two  years,  and 
then  pastor  of  various  important  churches  in  his  State; 
Dr.  ]\Iarsh  has  also  been  an  honored  instructor  in  several 
institutions.  C.  H.  Ryland,  of  Virginia,  came  from  Rich- 
mond College,  and  remained  in  the  Seminary  two  years, 
being  graduated  in  a  number  of  schools;  he  labored 
diligently  as  army  colporteur  during  the  war,  and,  after 
useful  service  as  pastor  at  Alexandria  and  other  points, 
has  since  1874  been  financial  secretary  of  Richmond  Col- 


172  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

lege,  and  at  the  same  time  pastor  of  churches  within 
reach.  Dr.  E-3^1and  is  a  man  warmly  loved  and  very  influ- 
ential. T.  B.  Shepherd,  of  Virginia,  came  from  Columbian 
College  (now  Columbian  University),  and  remained  in  the 
Seminary  one  year,  being  graduated  in  all  the  schools  he 
attended;  he  has  been  a  useful  pastor  at  various  points  in 
the  State.  W.  J.  Shipman,  of  Virginia,  who  came  from 
Eichmond  College,  and  remained  one  year,  being  gradu- 
ated in  several  schools,  has  also  been  a  very  faithful  and 
useful  man,  including  important  pastorates  in  Richmond, 
and  at  Halifax  Court-House ;  he  was  the  second  alumnus 
who  sent  a  son  to  the  Seminary.  C.  H.  Toy,  of  Virginia, 
was  a  Master  of  Arts  of  the  University  of  that  State,  and 
took  in  one  session  some  three  fourths  of  the  Seminary's 
course,  being  easily  graduated  in  every  school  he  attended; 
he  was  ordained  the  following  summer,  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  becoming  a  missionary  to  Japan;  this  being  pre- 
vented by  the  war,  he  served  as  chaplain  to  the  close  of 
the  war.  Some  years  later,  as  we  shall  see,  he  became  pro- 
fessor in  the  Seminary,  and  is  now  professor  in  Harvard 
University.-^ 

During  the  three  or  four  central  months  of  this  first 
session  the  Professor  of  the  New  Testament  and  Homi- 
letics  was  so  enfeebled  by  illness  as  to  be  entirely  cut  off 
from  teaching.  The  classes  were  taken  in  hand  by  his 
colleagues,  —  a  hard  task,  when  all  were  toiling  through 
a  first  session.  But  Boyce  and  Williams  had  enjoyed 
the  experience  of  teaching  a  variety  of  theological  sub- 
jects, and  Manly  was,  by  his  versatile  constitution  and 
varied  training,  able  to  teach  almost  anything.  The}^  did 
the  work,  of  course ;  but  they  did  it  so  ably,  and  with  such 

1  It  has  seemed  appropriate  to  give  some  brief  account  of  several 
students  of  the  first  session  or  two,  though  of  course  this  cannot  be 
continued  for  every  subsequent  year.  Others  not  here  mentioned  have 
doubtless  been  very  useful  ;  but  the  writer  has,  unfortunately,  not  had 
opportunity  to  know  so  well  concerning  them  and  their  work. 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE   FIRST  SESSIONS.       173 

cheerful  kindness,  such  unfailing  and  delicate  efforts  to 
prevent  their  colleague  from  being  pained  by  the  situation, 
that,  now  when  they  have  all  passed  away,  the  matter  is 
remembered  with  unspeakable  gratitude  and  affection.  As 
a  part  of  his  ample  home  establishment.  Dr.  Boyce  had 
several  ponies,  trained  for  the  saddle,  on  which  his  wife 
and  her  sister  were  accustomed  to  ride,  accompanied  by  a 
groom.  One  of  these  ponies  w^as  promptly  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  his  colleague,  who  soon  sought  permission  to 
take  the  groom's  place  in  the  long  rides  through  that 
beautiful  neighborhood,  and  thus  early  formed  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance,  which  he  has  ever  since  most  highly 
valued. 

Dr.  Boj'ce's  own  health  was  at  that  time  superb,  and  his 
powder  of  endurance  seemed  to  be  almost  unlimited.  In 
January  he  took  his  family  for  a  few  days  to  Charleston, 
in  order  to  visit  his  relatives  and  look  after  the  many  busi- 
ness interests  of  his  father's  estate.  He  invited  his  invalid 
colleague  to  accompany  him  on  what  would  be  a  first  visit 
to  the  beautiful  city  by  the  sea.  The  journey  had  to  be- 
gin at  4  A.  M.,  and  continue  till  towards  midniglit;  but  he 
wrapped  his  friend  in  a  wonderful  overcoat,  — a  miracle  of 
softness  and  w^armth,  —  and  when  we  reached  Charleston 
carried  him  in  his  own  arms  from  the  carriage  into  his 
room  at  the  hotel.  He  seemed  strong  like  a  giant,  and  he 
was  tender  as  a  w^oman.  He  shrank  from  equestrianism, 
but  loved  to  drive  about  Greenville  and  vicinity  a  fine  pair 
of  horses,  with  which  he  also  went  once  a  month  to  a 
country  church  twenty-five  miles  away,  of  which  he  was 
pastor.  On  one  of  these  journeys  he  took  the  same  col- 
league with  him.  We  spent  the  night  in  a  large  double 
cabin  built  of  logs,  whose  owner  was  poor  and  far  from 
cultivated,  but  had  a  heart  as  big  as  all  out-doors,  and  a 
joyous  delight  in  everything  religious.  It  w-as  beautiful 
to  see  how^  completely  at  home  Dr.  Boyce  appeared,  and 
how  completely  at  ease   he   made  everybody  around  him. 


174  MEMOIK   OF  JAMES   P    BOYCE. 

The  story  was  afterwards  told  by  some  one  else  that  when 
the  rich  preacher  from  Greenville  made  his  first  visit  to 
this  church  as  pastor,  having  been  called  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  his  predecessor,  when  the  people  saw  the 
fine  horses  and  stylish  negro  driver  of  the  buggy,  there 
was  quite  a  sensation.  The  church  included  persons  of 
intelligence,  dwelling  in  comfortable  homes,  who  after- 
wards came  to  love  him  warmly.  But  on  that  occasion, 
when  the  church-meeting  which  followed  the  sermon  had 
ended,  there  arose  a  new  and  livelj^  discussion  as  to  who 
should  take  the  pastor  home  with  him.  Various  brethren 
suggested  to  various  others,  ''Can't  you  take  our  pastor 
to-night?"  But  each  one  found  it  impossible  to  do  so. 
At  length  the  hero  of  the  double  cabin  spoke  out  warmly, 
and  said,  ''Well,  brethren,  I  don't  mind  it,  I'll  take 
him."  Let  it  not  be  imagined  that  there  was  about  him 
any  particle  of  display.  He  took  two  excellent  horses  in 
order  to  shorten  the  trip  and  save  time,  and  he  took  a 
servant  to  drive,  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  think  of 
his  sermon.  Some  years  later,  the  writer  himself  became 
pastor  of  the  same  church,  and  had  ample  occasion  to  learn 
how  highly  Dr.  Boyce  was  appreciated  and  loved  by  all 
the  people. 

Dr.  J.  Wm.  Jones  has  written  with  great  earnestness  as 
to  Dr.  Boj^ce's  cordial  kindness  to  the  students  during  this 
first  session.  He  invited  them  in  groups  to  dinner  or  tea, 
and  urged  them  to  visit  him  informally.  He  privately 
offered  financial  aid  to  such  as  needed  it,  seeing  that  the 
Seminary  had  not  yet  any  fund  for  this  purpose.  Learning 
that  To}^  and  Jones  were  walking  three  miles  out  to  a  mis- 
sion Sunday-school,  he  insisted  on  their  driving  his  ponies. 
"When  the  praj^er-meetings  conducted  by  students  in  pri- 
vate houses  overflowed,  he  suggested  building  a  mission 
chapel,  promising  to  pay  whatever  they  could  not  collect; 
but  the  war  troubles  broke  up  the  plan.  In  general,  he 
delighted  in  all  religious  work  done  by  the  students,  in 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE  FIRST  SESSIONS.       175 

the  town  and  its  vicinity,  and  especially  when  he  heard 
of  conversions  in  their  meetings.  He  longed  to  have  it 
understood  that  the  Seminary  wished  to  train  zealous 
l^reachers  and  working  pastors. 

About  the  end  of  the  session  Dr.  Bo3'ce  preached  at  tlie 
dedication  of  the  new  Baptist  Church  at  Columbia.  He 
had,  of  course,  fulfilled  his  generous  offer  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  towards  its  erection,  but  had  made  the  payments 
only  in  proportion  as  other  contributions  were  paid.  All 
his  giving  was  managed  with  the  greatest  care,  so  as  to 
bring  from  it  good  results  in  every  direction.  The  sermon 
refers  feelingly  to  the  "eight  years  of  sacrifice  and  toil 
and  pain  "  through  which  the  Church  has  pressed  on  to 
the  erection  of  this  building.  He  distinguishes  between 
**  sacramental  "  and  "  sacrilegious  "  theories  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  a  house  of  worship,  urging  that  its  sacred  design 
and  associations  shall  not  be  violated  by  employing  it  for 
mere  secular  gatherings  and  addresses. 

At  the  Commencement  for  this  first  session,  near  the 
end  of  jMay,  1860,  a  missionary  sermon  was  preached  by 
President  G.  W.  Samson,  D.D.,  of  Washington  City,  and 
an  address  was  made  by  the  venerable  Dr.  B. -Manly,  Sr., 
both  of  whom  had  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  various 
conventions  leading  to  the  formation  of  the  Semillar3^ 
By  request  of  Dr.  Bo^^ce,  Professor  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  wrote  a 
Commencement  hymn,  beginning,  "  Soldiers  of  Christ,  in 
truth  arrayed,"  which  has  been  sung  at  every  subsequent 
Commencement,  and  it  is  hoped  will  be  sung  for  ages  to 
come.  As  a  whole,  the  opening  session  was  thought  to 
have  been  highly  successful  and  encouraging.  But  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  that  year  were  marked  by  the 
political  canvass  which  led  to  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  There  was  immense  popular  excitement,  which 
the  men  of  to-day  may  be  glad  that  they  can  scarcely 
imagine.  It  was  very  generally  believed  that  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  would  lead  to  great  political  changes,  and 


176  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

not  a  few  thought  the  result  would  be  war.  At  such 
times  young  men  find  it  hard  to  settle  down  for  a  course  of 
quiet  study. 

Yet  the  second  session  showed  a  gratifying  increase  of 
attendance,  namely,  from  twenty-six  to  thirty-six.  Of  these 
Virginia  sent  ten,  North  Carolina  four,  South  Carolina 
nine,  Georgia  one,  Alabama  five,  Mississippi  five,  Mis- 
souri one,  Massachusetts  one.  Eleven  students  of  the  first 
session  returned,  and  some  others  were  doubtless  prevented 
only  by  the  political  excitement.  The  large  attendance 
from  Alabama  and  Mississippi  showed  that  the  interest  in 
the  Seminary  was  widening.  Among  the  new  students, 
at  least  a  few  ought  to  be  mentioned.  F.  M.  Daniel,  of 
Alabama,  came  from  Howard  College,  and  remained  two 
s'essions.  He  has  long  been  a  highly  useful  pastor  at 
various  places  in  Georgia.  Joseph  F.  Deans,  of  Virginia, 
-was  a  graduate  of  Columbian  College,  and  came  now  for 
one  session,  returning  after  the  war  for  two  sessions  more. 
He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  Confederate  Army,  and  has  been 
a  laborious  and  useful  pastor  and  teacher  in  Virginia. 
C.  E.  W.  Dobbs,  of  Virginia,  who  came  one  session,  has 
been  widely  known  as  pastor  in  Kentucky  and  Indiana, 
in  Mississippi  and  Georgia,  and  as  a  writer  for  the  reli- 
gious press.  P.  C.  Dozier,  of  South  Carolina,  attended 
two  sessions,  and  has  long  lived  in  California,  of  late  as 
professor  at  Los  Angeles.  J.  L.  Pettigrew  came  from 
Mississippi  College  and  attended  one  session,  and  has  been 
a  vigorous  pastor  and  teacher  in  Mississippi.  James  B. 
Taylor,  Jr.,  of  Virginia,  educated  at  E-ichmond  College 
and  the  University  of  Virginia,  attended  the  Seminary 
one  session,  and  has  been  an  honored  and  useful  pastor  in 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  His  father  was  the  revered 
Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board;  his  brothers  are 
Dr.  George  B.  Taylor,  missionary  to  Italy,  and  President 
Charles  E.  Taylor,  of  Wake  Forest.  John  W.  Taylor,  of 
Alabama,  remained  one  session,  —  a  man  of  rare  gifts  and 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE   FIRST   SESSIONS.      177 

lovely  character,  whose  class-work  is  vividly  remembered 
across  all  the  years,  but  whose  rich  promise  was  blighted 
by  an  early  death.  George  F.  Williams,  of  Massachusetts, 
had  a  sister  who  was  the  wife  of  Thomas  P.  Miller,  a 
prominent  Baptist  merchant  of  Mobile.  He  had  been 
graduated  at  Rochester  University,  and  remained  at  the 
Seminary  two  sessions.  He  was  missionary  in  the  Con- 
federate Army  for  three  years,  and  has  shown  a  remark- 
able talent  for  pastoral  and  city  mission  work,  in  which 
he  is  now  engaged  in  Kichmond,  Va. 

It  was  a  difficult  thing  during  that  second  session  for 
professors  and  students  to  go  quietly  on.  The  presidential 
election  occurred  when  the  session  was  but  a  month  old. 
Then  promptly  arose  the  great  Secession  excitement  in 
South  Carolina,  and  we  went  about  our  daily  tasks  beneath 
dark  and  stormy  skies.  A  State  Convention  was  speedily 
called  by  the  Legislature,  to  meet  in  December.  Dr.  Boyce 
felt  constrained  to  become  a  candidate  in  opj^osition  to 
Secession;  yet,  though  Greenville  District  had  long  been 
a  Union  stronghold,  he  was  overwhelmingly  beaten.  His 
political  history  during  the  period  of  the  war  will  be  giA^en 
in  the  next  chapter. 

The  students  almost  all  remained  throughout  the  session, 
and  they  and  their  instructors  strove  to  study  faithfully. 
But  you  could  hear  nothing  on  the  streets,  or  in  the  homes 
where  the  students  boarded,  save  excited  political  discus- 
sion. "Well  might  it  be  so,  for  the  times  were  big  with 
destiny.  The  students  themselves  were  greatly  divided 
in  opinion  about  the  course  which  ought  to  be  pursued  b}'' 
South  Carolina  and  the  other  States,  as  were  their  profes- 
sors. Mr.  G.  r.  Williams,  who  was  known  to  some  as  a 
Northern  man,  in  returning  from  lecture  one  day  made 
some  sharp  remark  on  the  street  in  opposition  to  secession, 
and  several  rough  youngsters  threatened  to  mob  him.  A 
good-natured  livery-stable  keeper  quieted  them  with  a 
phrase  that  was  remembered:   *'Let  him  alone,  fellows; 

12 


178  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

don't  you  know  a  man  can't  study  geography  before  he  's 
born?" 

The  secession  of  South  Carolina  was  promptly  followed 
by  that  of  several  other  States,  and  in  February  a  Provi- 
sional Congress  met  in  Montgomery,  and  elected  Jefferson 
Davis  as  President  of  the  Confederate  States.  Still  we 
went  on  trying  to  teach  and  learn,  hoping  and  fearing  and 
wondering  what  manner  of  life  was  before  us,  when  the 
capture  of  Fort  Sumter,  April  12,  ended  all  prospect  of 
peaceful  settlement,  and  threw  the  whole  South  and  the 
whole  country  into  the  fiercest  excitement. 

The  second  Commencement  of  the  Seminary  was  held  on 
May  27,  1861,  and  the  anniversary  address,  given  by  Dr. 
E.  T.  Winkler,  of  Charleston,  was  published.  There  is  not 
a  word  in  it  about  the  political  situation.  The  Southern 
feeling  was  strong  that  ministers  must  not  preach  on  polit- 
ical questions,  and  we  were  all  diligently  endeavoring  to 
concentrate  attention  upon  our  own  business.  Dr.  Winkler 
spoke  in  characteristically  graceful  and  very  hearty  com- 
mendation of  the  Seminary's  wise  plans,  and  its  gratifying 
successes  and  prospects;  and  then  set  himself  to  exalt  the 
great  work  which  ministers  have  to  do  in  the  world. 

Three  weeks  before  tlie  close  of  the  session,  Dr.  Boyce 
and  the  writer  went  to  Savannah  to  attend  a  meeting  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention.  At  Charleston  we  took 
a  sail-boat,  in  company  with  Boyce's  early  friend,  William 
G.  Whilden,  and  visited  Fort  Sumter,  to  see  the  effect  of 
the  bombardment  which  had  caused  its  surrender  by  the 
United  States  troops.  We  lunched  on  Morris  Island, 
which  afterwards  became  famous  in  connection  with  the 
blockade  and  siege.  In  returning,  we  encountered  a  ver}'- 
high  wind,  which  made  the  voyage  of  the  little  sail-boat 
increasingly  difficult,  and  at  last  dangerous.  Whenever 
we  tacked,  in  beating  up  against  the  wind,  the  waves 
burst  over  us,  wetting  the  whole  person  and  deluging  the 
boat.     We  learned  afterwards  that  many  boats  were  upset 


THE   SEMINARY'S  THREE  FIRST  SESSIONS.       179 

in  the  Bay,  and  some  lives  were  lost.  At  length  we  gave 
up  the  attempt,  and  went  before  the  wind  to  Point  Plea- 
sant, returning  to  the  city  at  night  when  the  storm  was 
over.  Boyce  was  a  good  swimmer,  having  had  much  boyish 
practice  in  those  very  waters,  and  was  characteristically 
cheerful,  and  even  hilarious  when  the  waves  would  break 
over  us.  It  is  still  remembered  in  what  a  comical  quan- 
dary his  colleague  was,  who  could  not  swim,  as  to  the 
proper  generosity  in  his  assurances  that  the  negro  boatman 
should  be  rewarded  if  the  boat  capsized  and  his  life  was 
saved.  Enough  must  be  promised,  and  yet  not  too  much, 
or  the  boat  might  be  helped  in  going  over.  The  Conven- 
tion at  Savannah  passed  resolutions  showing  sympathy 
with  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy.  Dr.  Boyce  discouraged 
anything  of  the  kind,  and  through  life  he  always  strongly 
opposed  the  interference  of  religious  bodies,  as  such,  with 
political  affairs. 

A  good  many  of  our  students  went  at  once  into  the  army, 
some  as  chaplains,  others  as  soldiers.  The  first  battle  of 
Manassas  was  fought  on  July  21st.  The  following  Sun- 
day was  the  time  of  meeting  of  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention of  South  Carolina  in  Spartanburg.  There  was 
naturally  much  exultation.  A  thanksgiving  service  was 
appointed  for  Sunday  morning.  The  preacher  urged  our 
entire  dependence  on  Providence,  and  the  great  importance 
of  not  taking  everything  for  granted  from  a  single  success. 
The  tone  of  his  sermon  was  commended  by  some  leading 
brethren,  but  others  evidently  felt  that  he  was  not  quite 
up  to  the  requirements  of  the  occasion.  Our  Southern 
cause  was  right.  The  right  must  succeed.  Yes,  the  right 
had  succeeded,  and  this  must'  continue.  Such  was  the 
feeling  of  many  good  men,  while  of  course  others,  such  as 
Dr.  Boyce,  were  more  thoughtful,  and  better  acquainted 
with  the  illustrations  given  hy  history  to  the  true  and 
Scriptural  doctrine  of  providence. 

In  the  autumn  we  could  see  clearly  that  the  number  of 
students  for  a  third  session  must  be  greatly  reduced.     In 


180  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

fact,  it  fell  off  to  twenty,  of  whom  eight  had  been  students 
of  the  previous  session.  Of  these  twenty-,  Virginia  sent 
seven,  North  Carolina  two,  South  Carolina  seven,  Alabama 
one,  Mississippi  one,  Missouri  one,  Massachusetts  one. 
Several  of  these  have  been  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  preceding  sessions.  William  H.  Williams,  of  Virginia, 
returned  in  1866  for  two  sessions  more,  became  a  full 
graduate,  was  pastor  in  Charleston  and  in  Virginia,  and 
is  now  editor  of  the  ''  Central  Baptist.'^  W.  E.  Phillips, 
of  South  Carolina,  a  promising  student,  was  killed  in 
battle  the  following  year.  A.  B.  Woodfin,  of  Virginia,  is 
the  well-known  pastor  in  Alabama  and  Virginia.  Several 
others  are  known  to  have  made  very  useful  men.  Every 
now  and  then  some  one  of  these  twenty  would  find  himself 
unable  to  continue  studying,  and  go  off  to  volunteer  with 
his  friends.  We  studied  on  as  best  we  could.  In  the 
autumn  or  winter  a  new  volunteer  regiment  was  gathered 
in  Greenville  District,  and  Dr.  Boyce  accepted  the  place 
of  Chaplain  of  this  regiment.  It  was  evidently  useless  to 
attempt  to  hold  another  session  of  the  Seminary  while  the 
war  continued.  The  Confederate  Congress  was  already 
providing  for  a  general  conscription.  Ministers  were  of 
course  to  be  excepted,  but  w^e  were  unwilling  to  ask  any 
special  exemption  for  ministerial  students,  which  would 
have  placed  all  concerned  under  a  shadow  of  reproach.  We 
attempted  no  formal  Commencement  at  the  close,  as  very 
few  students  w^ere  present,  and  Boyce  had  already  left,  with 
his  regiment.  The  Seminary  had  opened,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  j)rospects  bright  almost  beyond  parallel  in  the  coun- 
try. The  second  $100,000  of  endowment  had  by  this  time 
been  nearly  all  subscribed  in  the  other  States.  But  now 
—  the  war ! 

Dr.  Boyce  made  what  he  thought  the  wisest  arrange- 
ments for  the  future  of  the  institution.  He  requested  the 
professors  to  retain  their  connection  with  the  Seminary, 
so  as  to  begin  again  whenever  practicable,  and  paid  their 
salaries  regularly  in  the  Confederate  currency,  which  was 


THE  SEMINAKY'S  THREE  FIRST  SESSIONS.       181 

already  beginning  to  depreciate.  Drs.  Williams  and 
Manly,  who  had  each  a  number  of  servants,  rented  plan- 
tations in  Abbeville  District,  a  hundred  miles  down  the 
railroad,  and  did  much  good  as  pastors  of  interesting  coun- 
try churches  in  that  region,  while  striving  to  continue  their 
studies.  Dr.  Broadus  remained  in  Greenville,  and  began 
likewise  to  preach  to  churches  within  reach.  It  was  prob- 
ably in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  1862,  that  Boyce  gave  a 
curious  proof  of  his  far-sighted  wisdom.  One  day  when  at 
home  he  said  to  his  colleague:  ^'1  am  satisfied  the  war 
will  last  several  years  longer.  The  Federal  Government 
will  blockade  our  ports,  and  everj'thing  imported  will  grow 
very  scarce  and  high.  So  I  recommend  that  you  let  me 
purchase  for  you  a  large  supply  of  groceries,  enough  to 
last  you  several  years.  Some  day  you  maj^  find  it  very 
convenient  to  trade  them  off  for  other  things."  His  friend 
hesitated,  as  he  shared  the  general  opinion  that  the  war 
could  not  last  very  long,  and  as  he  had  no  money  to 
advance  for  such  a  purchase.  But  Boyce  insisted,  offering 
to  lend  him  the  money.  And  when  the  Confederate  cur- 
rency had  become  sorely  depreciated,  and  the  necessaries 
of  life  were  sadly  hard  to  procure  in  cities  and  towns;  when 
at  one  time,  before  the  manufacture  of  salt  began  in  the 
Confederacy,  thirty  two-horse  loads  of  oakwood  were  cheer- 
fully bartered  by  a  farmer,  upon  his  own  proposition,  for 
thirty  teacupfuls  ^  of  Turk's  Island  salt, —  often  and  often 
in  those  years  of  strange  experiences  there  was  much 
gratitude  in  the  family  for  his  wisdom  and  kindness.  It 
was  learned  afterwards  that  a  celebrated  Baptist  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  James  Thomas,  Jr.,  a  man  of  extraordinary 
business  talent,  made  a  similar  forecast.  As  soon  as  he 
heard  that  the  Confederates  had  captured  Fort  Sumter,  he 
began  to  arrange  all  his  business  relations  with  different 
parts  of  the  world,  and  laid  in  groceries  for  his  large  family, 

1  It  is  fair  to  add  that  the  lady  of  the  house  voluntarily  chose  her 
largest  teacup,  and  heaped  it  every  time. 


182  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

enough  for  five  years.  When  asked  why  he  was  buying  so 
much,  he  said  there  would  be  a  long  and  terrible  war,  last- 
ing several  years,  and  all  such  things  w^ould  become  very 
scarce.  Yet  Mr.  Seward  was  not  probably  saying,  ^'The 
war  will  end  in  ninety  days,"  merely  for  effect,  but 
honestly  believed  it ;  and  many  able  men  at  the  South  felt 
a  similar  confidence. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  and  afterwards,  many  subscribers 
for  the  Seminary's  endowment  began  to  offer  payment  in 
Confederate  currency.  Boyce  was  never  very  sanguine  as 
to  Confederate  success,  but  he  took  the  money  offered,  and 
invested  it  in  Confederate  bonds.  He  w^ould  say,  *^  If  the 
South  succeeds,  these  bonds  will  have  value  ;  if  it  fails, 
the  private  bonds  and  subscriptions  we  hold  will  be  worth- 
less, because  property  and  business  will  go  to  pieces,  and 
we  could  never  collect."  But  he  repeated^  remarked  that 
he  would  not  think  of  converting  ante-bellum  investments 
into  Confederate  securities. 

Amid  all  the  distractions  and  anxieties  of  these  first 
years  of  the  Seminary,  Dr.  Boyce  was  an  eager  and  diligent 
student.  Being  very  zealous  as  to  his  special  class  for  the 
study  of  theology  in  Turrettin  and  other  Latin  text-books, 
and  not  satisfied  with  his  own  knowledge  of  the  Latin 
language,  he  made  an  engagement  for  a  regular  series  of 
recitations  in  the  language  to  one  of  his  friends,  who  was 
known  to  have  made  Latin  a  specialty.  It  was  simply 
wonderful  to  see  how  regularly  he  attended,  with  so  many 
labors  and  responsibilities,  and  how  carefully  he  prepared. 
Throughout  his  life,  being  w^ell  known  as  a  great  business 
man,  many  people  took  for  granted  that  he  could  hardly  be 
much  of  a  scholar.  But  his  attainments  were  very  exten- 
sive, his  appetencies  for  high  scholarship  were  insatiable, 
and  the  great  financial  sacrifices  he  made  in  later  years  in 
order  to  build  up  the  Seminary  were  in  his  estimation  of 
little  moment  compared  with  the  sad  and  sore  hindrance  to 
his  plans  of  study. 


DR.  BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  183 


CHAPTER   XIT. 

DR.    BOYCE's   part   IN   THE   WAR. 

JAMES  p.  BOYCE  had  grown  up  an  opponent  of 
Secession,  as  bis  father  was,  and  his  namesake,  Mr. 
Petigru,  and  a  good  many  other  prominent  men  in 
South  Carolina.  He  held  that  the  State  had  no  consti- 
tutional right  of  Secession,  and  that  if  a  secession  were 
made  by  any  State,  it  would  be  simply  a  revolutionary 
act,  and  could  be  defended  only  on  the  ground  by  which 
other  revolutions  are  justified.-^  When  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
elected,  on  the  platform  of  refusing  slavery  any  admission 
into  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  and  thus  restrict- 
ing it  absolutely  to  the  States  in  which  it  already  existed, 
it  was  considered  evident  that  the  triumphant  party  would 
ultimately  go  farther  still,  and  begin  to  interfere,  in  one 
way  or  another,  with  the  existing  Slave  States.  This 
was  regarded  as  a  menace,  not  only  to  the  institution  of 
slaver}'-,  but  to  State  rights  and  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  American  libert}'-.  Dr.  Boyce  believed  that  the 
Southern  States  ought  to  seek  from  the  party  coming  into 
power  some  reliable  guarantees  of  non-interference  with 
the  existing  Slave  States.  When  the  Legislature  of 
South  Carolina  summoned  a  Convention,  in  which  Seces- 
sion was  well  understood  to  be  the  issue,  he  came  out  as 
an  Anti-Secession  candidate  for  the  Convention,  in  con- 
nection with  Major  B.  F.  Perry,  a  man  of  commandiug 

1  The  Right  of  Secession  is  discussed  with  great  force  —  for  and 
against  —  and  great  beauty  of  style  in  Jefferson  Davis's  "  Rise  and  Fall 
of  the  Confederate  Government,"  and  James  G.  Blaine's  "Twenty 
Years  of  Congress." 


184  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

character,  and  long  a  leader  among  the  Union  men,  who 
had  hitherto  constituted  a  majority  in  the  up-country 
districts.  But  it  speedily  became  manifest  that  in  the 
low  country  and  the  middle  country  the  tide  was  all  in 
favor  of  Secession.  The  South  Carolinians  were  not  at 
all,  as  was  imagined  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  a  rest- 
less and  hot-headed  folk,  inclined  to  change,  novis  rebus 
studentes.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  the  most  conserva- 
tive community  in  the  whole  country,  —  even  retaining 
many  old  institutions  and  customs  that  Avere  no  longer 
useful,  simply  through  their  aversion  to  change.  But 
the  Secession  leaders  now  persuaded  the  people  in  general 
that  the  only  way  to  conserve  their  State  inde2)endence, 
their  property,  and  their  characteristic  civilization  was 
to  quit  the  Union  and  seek  to  establish  a  Confederation 
of  the  Southern  States.  These  views  rapidly  spread  into 
the  upper  districts  also;  and  even  in  Greenville  District, 
which  had  always  been  a  stronghold  of  Union  sentiment. 
Perry  and  Boyce  and  their  ticket  received  only  a  few  hun- 
dred votes.  The  Secession  ticket  of  the  district  included 
Kev.  James  C.  Furman,  D.  D.,  President  of  Furman 
University,  who  had  long  been  a  pronounced  advocate 
of  Secession.  The  Convention  met  in  December,  and 
promptly  passed  an  Ordinance  of  Secession,  without  a 
dissenting  vote. 

Two  days  before  this  Secession  Convention  met,  Dr. 
Boj^ce  wrote  to  H.  A.  Tupper :  — 

*'  I  have  been  all  along  in  favor  of  resistance,  by  demanding 
first  new  guarantees,  and  if  these  were  not  granted,  then  forming 
a  Southern  Confederacy.  If  you  Georgia  people  come  in,  we  are 
safe  enough;  though  we  shall  yet  suflfer,  because  the  plan  of 
co-operation  has  not  preceded  Secession.  We  are  going  to  have 
the  Confederacy  of  New  England,  the  Free  City  of  New  York, 
the  Confederacy  of  the  Middle  States,  and  that  of  the  West,  —  or 
the  two  united, —  and  that  cutting  through  our  Southern  territory 
to  the  Gulf,  the  Confederacy  of  the  Border  States,  that  of  the 


DIl    BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  185 

Cotton  States,  —  Texas  standing  alone,  —  and  the  Confederacy 
of  the  Pacific.  Alas,  my  country  !  .  .  .  I  know  I  am  cautious 
about  taking  any  step  without  arranging  for  the  consequences. 
I  have  always  had  such  a  desire  for  justice,  even  to  my  foes,  that 
I  wish  to  leave  no  one  any  ground.to  charge  me  even  with  failure 
in  form.  I  do  wish  to  see  the  North  put  entirely  in  the  wrong,  by 
making  them  dissolve  the  Union,  if  it  must  be,  through  refusing 
to  grant  what  we  ask.  And  again,  I  have  always  been  old  fogy 
enough  to  love  the  past,  with  all  its  glorious  associations.  More- 
over, I  believe  I  see  in  all  this  the  end  of  slavery.  I  believe  we 
are  cutting  its  throat,  curtailing  its  domain.  And  I  have  been, 
and  am,  an  ultra  pro-slavery  man.  Yet  I  bow  to  what  God  will 
do.  I  feel  that  our  sins  as  to  this  institution  have  cursed  us,  — 
that  the  negroes  have  not  been  cared  for  in  their  marital  and 
religious  relations  as  they  should  be  ;  and  I  fear  God  is  going  to 
sweep  it  away,  after  having  left  it  thus  long  to  show  us  how 
great  we  might  be,  were  we  to  act  as  we  ought  in  this  matter." 

Again,  on  Jan.  10,  1861,  he  writes  to  his  sister, — 

"  I  am  proud  to  say  I  love  my  State,  and  my  whfde  country, 
too  well  to  support  the  present  movement.  It  is  to  me  one  of 
the  proudest  recollections  of  my  father  that  he  helped  so  manfully 
in  1852  to  stay  this  folly;  and  were  he  only  here  in  1860  and 
'61,  I  feel  well  assured  where  he  would  stand.  The  country  his 
father  bled  for,  and  for  which  he  himself  gave  his  strength  and 
means  in  1852,  is  still  dear  to  me.  Nor  do  I  yet  despair  5  I 
believe  that  ere  many  months  have  gone  by  we  shall  all  be  safe 
again  under  the  folds  of  the  glorious  Stars  and  Stripes  of  our  own 
United  States.  I  believe  that  the  Southern  States  will  yet  pre- 
sent their  ultimatum  to  the  North,  and  when  they  do,  that  it  will 
be  accepted.  If  not,  then  I  am  ready  to  leave  them  ;  though  I 
believe  in  so  doing  we  have  nothing  before  us  but  constant  civil 
discord,  until  slavery  will  be  entirely  abolished.  It  is  as  a  pro- 
slavery  man  that  I  would  preserve  the  Union.  God  deliver  us 
from  the  follies  to  which,  out  of  it,  the  fire-eaters  will  try  to  carry 
us,  and  the  civil  discord  that  will  thus  come  on  us !  And  all  this 
if  we  are  left  to  ourselves,  which  I  do  not  expect.  As  sure  as 
we  do  not  arrange  some  propositions  for  the  North,  we  shall  have 
to  go  through  a  long  and  bloody  war." 


186  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

There  were  many  tlioiightfiil  men  all  over  the  South 
who  fully  shared  this  conviction  that  the  Secession  move- 
ment would  lead  to  endless  discord  within  the  Southern 
States,  and  to  the  ultimate  destruction  of  slavery,  even 
if  the  United  States  Government  should  not  attempt 
coercion  of  the  seceded  States,  or  in  attempting  should 
fail.  Some  few  of  these  —  in  South  Carolina  a  verj^  few  — 
refused  to  give  the  least  moral  support  to  the  State  or  the 
Confederacy  in  the  war  that  followed.  Except  in  some 
parts  of  the  Border  States,  it  was  folly  for  them  to  resist 
the  local  authorities,  and  they  could  only  remain  quiet. 
These  were  usually  old  men;  and  where  their  character 
commanded  respect  they  were  not  molested,  and  some- 
times were  even  treated  with  high  personal  consideration. 
Thus,  at  this  very  time  Mr.  James  L.  Petigru  was  ap- 
pointed b}^  the  Secession  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  to 
codify  the  laws  of  the  State,  though  his  Union  sentiments 
M'ere  perfectly  well  understood,  and  in  fact  openl}^  avowed 
in  conversation.  But  the  great  mass  of  those  who  opposed 
the  Secession  movement,  and  foresaw  many  of  its  dis- 
astrous consequences,  still  decided  to  go  with  the  State. 
An  eminent  Union  leader  in  the  up-country  was  reported 
to  have  said,  "South  Carolina  is  going  to  the  devil,  and 
I'm  going  with  her."  Reared  as  nearly  all  of  us  had 
been,  to  regard  the  State  as  primary,  and  the  United 
States  government  as  the  creature  ^f  the  States, —  or,  at 
any  rate,  to  feel  that  somehow  we  owed  principal  alle- 
giance to  the  State, —  we  could  not  do  otherwise.  People 
who  care  enough  for  historical  truth  and  personal  justice 
to  take  any  pains  towards  understanding  our  position  must 
recognize  this  fact.  The  time  had  come  when  we  were 
compelled  to  choose  between  going  with  the  State  and 
supporting  the  Union,  and  we  felt  bound  to  go  with  the 
State.  Kobert  E.  Lee,  who  is  reported  to  have  said  about 
this  time  that  if  he  owned  all  the  slaves  in  the  country  he 
would  gladly  give  them  up  to  save  the  Union,  to  whom 


DR.  BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  187 

General  Scott  virtually  offered  the  position  of  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  United  States  army,  yet  quietly  resigned 
his  colonel's  commission,  and  went  home  to  his  native 
State  of  Virginia,  when  she  had  seceded,  to  offer  her  his 
services.  Even  those  who  most  strongly  condemn  the 
views  entertained,  surely  cannot  fail  to  respect  the  sacri- 
fices quietly  made  by  many  men  throughout  the  South 
from  a  sentiment  of  duty. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  brought  to  Dr.  Boyce  the  pro- 
spect of  heavy  financial  losses  in  New  York  city.  The 
great  dry-goods  jobbing-house  in  which  his  father  had 
been  the  principal  partner  had  been  continued  by  a  new 
company,  comprising  two  of  Dr.  Boyce's  brothers-in-law, 
with  himself  and  his  brother,  Kerr  Boyce.  Some  time 
before  the  war,  James  Boyce  formally  withdrew  from  the 
company,  but  left  them  his  share  of  the  capital  as  a  loan. 
Their  trade  was  chiefly  at  the  South,  and  he  thought  they 
were  expanding  it  too  rapidly;  and  he  stipulated  that  in 
case  of  approaching  failure  they  should  first  amply  secure 
him  for  the  loan  bj^  the  transfer  of  Southern  debts.  In 
the  summer  of  1861  the  house  was  compelled  to  suspend, 
and  did  transfer  to  him  a  seemingly  ample  amount  of 
Southern  notes  and  accounts.  But  it  rapidly  grew  impos- 
sible to  collect  these,  and  the  large  amount  involved  was 
mainly  a  loss,  while  the  matter  was  destined  to  come  up 
in  a  still  more  forraidijjble  shape  after  the  war. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  a  new^  regiment  of  volunteers 
was  recruited  in  Greenville  District  b}'  C.  J.  Elford,  a 
famous  Greenville  lawyer,  with  a  wide  reputation  as  Sun- 
day-school superintendent  in  the  Baptist  Church.  He 
and  Boyce  were  ardent  friends;  and  the  latter  yielded  to 
the  suggestion  of  Elford  and  others,  and  consented  to  be- 
come chaplain  to  the  regiment.  His  brother-in-law,  H.  A. 
Tupper,  had  for  some  time  been  acting  as  chaplain  to  the 
Ninth  Georgia.  To  him  'Boyce  wrote  in  November  that 
the  new  regiment  was   expected  to   be  wanted  only  for 


188  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

special  service,  local  in  South  Carolina,  and  during  the 
winter  months.  There  will  be  another  minister  in  the 
regiment,  who  can  give  some  aid  when  he  is  compelled  to 
be  absent.  If  he  should  be  unable  to  get  a  furlough  in 
April,  when  the  affairs  of  the  estate  will  require  his  special 
attention,  he  will  resign.  He  explains  the  arrangements 
that  he  has  made  as  to  the  estate  in  general,  and  his  private 
affairs,  in  case  anything  should  happen  to  him.  He  then 
goes  on :  — 

'^  My  greatest  anxiety  is  for  the  Seminary,  as  its  funds  are  not 
yet  all  raised.  But  I  think  it  is  safely  fixed;  and  if  my  past  policy 
prevails,  and  no  buildings  are  commenced  until  the  means  are  on 
hand,  I  have  no  fear  of  its  final  success.  My  wife  and  children 
ou^ht  to  have  an  ample  support  from  my  estate.  You  may  think 
that  I  am  writing  gloomily,  but  not  so ;  I  am  stating  to  you, 
lest  you  feel  troubled  on  my  account,  how  truly  safe  all  things 
are.  My  times  are  in  the  hands  of  God.  If  he  has  other  use  for 
me  here,  he  will  keep  me,  at  home  or  in  the  field  as  well.  Thank 
you  for  your  good  wishes  for  my  work  ;  I  fully  reciprocate  them. 
The  Lord  be  with  us  both,  and  make  us  useful." 

In  the  early  part  of  1862  Dr.  Boyce  left  the  Seminary, 
with  its  small  and  diminishing  number  of  students,  in  the 
care  of  his  colleagues,  and  went  down  to  the  coast  with  his 
regiment.-^  In  regard  to  his  brief  term  of  service  in  that 
capacity  we  have  the  following  from  James  McCullough, 
who  succeeded  Elford  as  colonel  of  the  regiment :  — 

''  Dr.  Boyce  served  with  us  as  chaplain  while  in  this  State, 
on  the  coast,  in  the  winter  of  1861-1862,  at  Charleston,  Adams 
Eun,  Johns  Island,  and  elsewhere.  He  was  always  found  at  his 
post  of  duty,  and  was  highly  esteemed  and  much  loved  by  the 
entire  regiment.  They  all  had  absolute  confidence  in  his  Chris- 
tian integrity  and  manhood.     He  used  to  preach  us  some  very 

'  111  all  his  absences  during  the  war,  his  wife  took  care  of  the  home, 
the  farm,  the  servants,  with  great  skill  and  devotion,  as  did  many  an- 
other noble  Southern  lady  in  those  trying  years. 


DR.   BOYCE'S   PART  IN  THE    WAR.  189 

able  and  feeling  sermons.  My  mind  recurs  to  one  especially, 
where  he  had  almost  the  entire  regiment  in  tears.  ...  I  loved 
Dr.  Boyce  very  much,  and  so  did  my  men;  and  I  believe  the 
iuliuence  of  his  godly  life  was  felt  by  more  than  one."  ^ 

Not  only  at  that  time,  but  throughout  the  war,  he  was 
very  zealous  in  visiting  the  military  hospitals,  and  per- 
sonally striving  to  promote  the  bodily  and  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  the  sufferers. 

The  manuscripts  contain  but  little  trace  of  his  preaching 
as  chaplain.  He  doubtless  found  that  to  read  a  sermon, 
which  had  been  his  favorite  method,  would  seldom  answer 
in  camp;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  preaching 
gained  in  directness  of  aim,  in  personal  point,  by  this 
experience.  There  are  not  a  few  who  remember  this 
preaching  to  the  soldiers  in  camp  as  the  most  thoroughly 
delightful  of  all  their  ministerial  experiences.  There 
was  none  of  the  dull  decorum  and  dead-sea  formality  w^hich 
often  embarrass  the  preacher's  efforts  in  church,  no  thou- 
sand miles  of  cold  air  between  the  preacher  and  the  nearest 
hearer,  — nothing  but  live  men,  who  came  because  they 
pleased,  and  listened  because  they  liked;  among  whom 
you  could  stand,  and  lay  your  hand  on  a  man's  head  if 
you  chose,  and  look  right  into  his  eyes,  and  talk,  man  to 
man,  about  the  highest  things  in  time  and  eternity. 

Dr.  Boyce  enjoyed  his  work,  but  felt  compelled  to  leave 
it,  as  he  had  feared  might  prove  necessary,  through  the 
pressing  claims  of  business  in  connection  with  his  father's 
estate,  its  wdde  and  complicated  affairs  being  necessarily 
thrown  into  great  confusion  because  of  the  war.  So  he 
resigned  the  chaplaincy  in  May,  1862.  Keturning  home, 
he  w\is  elected  in  October  as  a  rej^resentative  of  Greenville 
District  in  the  South  Carolina  Legislature.  Two  years 
later  he  was  re-elected  to  this  office,  and  served  to  the  close 

1  This  excellent  gentleman,  Colonel  McCullough,  lived  until  Sep- 
tember, 1892. 


190  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

of  the  war,  —  say  Ajjril,  1865.  He  was  remarkably  well 
suited  for  public  life.  His  keen  practical  insight  and 
sound  practical  judgment  had  long  been  exercised  with 
the  liveliest  interest  upon  public  affairs.  His  extensive 
business  relations  gave  him  an  extraordinary  intelligence 
as  to  the  business  interests  of  the  State.  He  was  a  born 
financier;  and,  while  keenly  alive  to  all  that  the  State 
Legislature  could  do  in  any  respect,  he  was  from  the  be- 
ginning specially  interested  in  the  Confederate  finances. 
As  early  as  the  summer  of  1861,  when  General  McClellan 
was  reported  to  have  said,  while  organizing  the  great 
army  in  Washington,  that  artillery  was  going  to  decide 
the  war,  Boyce  remarked  to  a  friend,  ''Pshaw!  The  war 
will  be  decided  by  money;  the  side  that  manages  its 
finances  best  will  succeed."  By  the  end  of  1862  ever}^- 
body  could  see  that  the  financial  situation  of  the  Federal 
Government  was  difficult,  and  that  of  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment was  perilous.  In  the  beginning  of  December, 
1862,  shortly  after  the  Legislature  assembled,  he  intro- 
duced a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  South  Carolina  would 
endorse  her  proportion  of  two  hundred  millions  of  Con- 
federate bonds.  When  this  came  back  from  committee  he 
made  an  elaborate  speech,  beginning  as  follows :  — 

''  Mr.  Speaker:  At  the  time  I  introduced  the  resolution  which 
has  secured  this  favorable  report  from  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means,  I  was  not  aware  that  any  suggestions  of  the  kind  had 
been  made.  I  confess  that  during  several  months  the  plan  had' 
appeared  to  my  mind  so  advantageous  that  I  was  surprised  that  it 
had  not  been  proposed.  Before  the  committee,  however,  had 
acted  upon  the  matter  the  honorable  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Privileges  and  Elections  Mr.  Trenholm]  showed  me  a  letter 
from  one  of  the  most  distinguished  financiers  of  this  country,  sug- 
gesting the  importance  of  such  a  scheme,  and  urging  him  to  bring 
it  to  the  attention  of  this  Legislature.  The  morning  after  this 
report  and  bill  was  presented  to  this  House,  the  resolutions  of  the 
State  of  Alabama  (to  which  I  shall  hereafter  refer)  appeared  in 


DR.   BOYCE'S  PART  IN   THE   WAR.  191 

the  'Guardian'  of  this  city;  and  a  paragraph  in  the  Charleston 
'Courier'  of  yesterday,  copied  from  the  Richmond  'Whig,'  in- 
forms us  that  at  as  early  a  period  as  the  16th  of  May  last,  the 
subject  of  a  guarantee  of  the  Confederate  debt  by  the  ditierent 
States  was  suggested  to  Congress  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  ac- 
companied by  the  request  that  it  be  brought  before  the  attention 
of  the  other  States.  The  facts  thus  referred  to,  joined  with  the 
unanimous  approval  of  a  committee  of  the  House,  have  embold- 
ened me  to  task  your  attention  for  a  short  time,  that  I  may  urge 
upon  this  House  a  measure  which  I  deem  of  the  most  vital  inter- 
est to  the  whole  government  and  people. 

"  The  superficial  observer  looks  upon  our  present  national 
struggle  simply  in  the  light  of  its  military  achievement.  The 
abilities  of  our  generals,  the  bravery  of  our  troops,  the  successful 
issue  of  our  battles,  —  these  are  to  such  an  one  the  great  objects 
of  interest,  and  by  them  he  measures  the  fate  of  the  Republic. 
That  these  do  enter,  and  that  largely,  into  the  issue,  none  can 
question  ;  without  the  men  whom  God  has  given  as  leaders,  and 
without  the  troops,  such  as  have  never  been  excelled  for  bravery  or 
daring,  more  than  all,  without  that  military  success  which,  under 
the  blessing  of  God,  we  have  achieved,  we  might  well  despair, 
nay,  we  had  been  already  ruined. 

"But  there  is  another  power,  which,  though  almost  unper- 
ceived,  affects  more  deeply  the  issues  of  the  contest,  —  the  power 
of  the  purse  :  a  power  in  modern  times  that  far  exceeds  that  of  the 
sword,  and  in  fact  controls  the  world.  It  has  long  been  recog- 
nized in  Europe,  the  crowned  heads  of  which  are  completely 
dependent  upon  it.  At  its  beck  war  is  made,  and  peace  is  de- 
clared. In  this  hemisphere,  in  the  present  war,  its  gigantic 
influence  has  been  felt.  Were  it  not  for  the  aid  obtained  from 
Wall  Street  and  the  other  financial  circles  of  the  United  States, 
the  President  of  that  government  could  not  continue  a  single  day 
this  unnatural  warfare ;  on  the  other  hand,  had  not  the  action  of 
the  banks  of  this  Confederacy  been  as  patriotic  and  self-sacrificing 
as  it  has,  we  were  already  ruined,  —  flying  before  our  ruthless  foe, 
unable  to  sustain  ourselves  at  all  against  the  vast  hosts  which 
have  been  raised  up  against  us.  They  who  wield  the  finances  in 
each  section  have,  in  truth,  in  their  grasp  the  welfare  of  both, 
and  we  have  reason  not  only  to  be  proud  of,  but  to  be  grateful  to, 


192  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

the  banks  of  this  country  for  the  unlimited  confidence  which  they 
have  manifested  towards  our  government,  and  the  determination 
they  have  shown  to  sustain  it  at  all  hazards,  even  at  the  risk  of 
their  own  financial  destruction. 

"It  is  because  the  welfare  of  the  country  is  thus  so  indissolu- 
bly  united  with  its  financial  prosperity  that  I  regard  the  measure 
before  us  as  one  of  the  greatest  importance.  It  is  in  vain  to 
attempt  to  raise  armies  if,  when  called  into  the  field,  they  can 
neither  be  paid,  supported,  clothed,  fed,  nor  armed.  To  do 
these  things  requires  immense  resources.  With  prosperous 
finances,  we  can  fight  on  amid  the  heaviest  losses  and  reverses. 
With  our  finances  in  ruin,  our  armies  become  demoralized,  our 
sources  of  supply  are  cut  oflp,  and  the  advancing  tread  of  the 
invader  is  triumphant.  How  important,  then,  that  they  be  looked 
after,  and  if  evils  arise,  that  the  cause  of  those  evils  and  their 
proper  remedy  be  sought. 

"  The  time  has  come,  Mr.  Speaker,  when  it  behooves  ns  to 
look  well  to  this  matter.  The  present  condition  of  our  finances  is 
fearful,  and  wore  it  not  for  the  remedy  which  we  have,  would  be 
actually  appalling.  The  amount  of  our  expenditures  has  already 
reached  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  Do  gentlemen  realize 
this  ?  Uc»  they  know  what  it  means  ?  Have  we  ever  attempted 
to  get  any  other  conception  of  it  than  that  it  is  a  vast  sum  of 
money,  beyond  the  ordinary  measure  of  calculation  ?  Let  us  try 
to  realize  what  it  is.  According  to  the  late  War  Tax  returns,  the 
whole  value  of  South  Carolina —  lands,  negroes,  money  at  inter- 
est, and  the  various  other  items  included  under  that  scheme  —  was 
a  little  less  than  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  And  the  Con- 
federacy has  spent  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war  thus  for.  It  is  as  though  the  whole  State  of 
South  Carolina  had  been  blotted  from  the  resources  of  this  Con- 
federacy. Nor  can  we  fully  estimate  what  the  war  has  actually 
cost  our  people  until  an  accurate  account  be  taken  as  well  of  the 
vast  amount  of  voluntary  contributions  for  hospital  purposes, 
raised  by  the  energies  mostly  of  the  noble  women  of  the  land,  as 
of  the  munificent  expenditures  of  individual  citizens  and  corpora- 
tions in  raising  and  equipping  regiments  for  the  field." 

Mr.  Boyce  then  went  on  to  show,  with  great  practical 
point  and  clearness,  and  the  most  comprehensive  view  of 


DR.   BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  103 

all  the  conditions  involved,  the  advantages  of  such  an 
arrangement.  The  result  was  that  the  bill  passed  both 
Houses,  and  became  a  law.  A  proposition  had  been  made 
in  Alabama  that  the  State  should  endorse  all  of  the  Con- 
federate debt,  without  limitation.  Mr.  Boyce  showed  the 
great  advantage  of  his  plan,  since  the  endorsed  bonds 
would  at  once  command  a  premium,  and  enable  the  Con- 
federate Government  to  bring  its  finances  into  a  more 
healthy  situation.  On  December  30th  he  wrote  an  elab- 
orate letter  to  the  Richmond  ''Enquirer  "  upon  this  point, 
showing  beyond  question  the  great  superiority  of  a  limited 
endorsement.  The  Confederate  Government  took  hold 
of  this  movement  wath  heartiness.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  appointed  Mr.  Boyce  as  its  ''agent  or  commis- 
sioner to  the  Legislatures  of  various  States,  to  endeavor  to 
secure  the  passage  of  Acts  for  State  endorsement  of  Con- 
federate bonds,  similar  to  that  which  he  carried  through 
the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina."  We  have  a  report  of 
an  address  which  he  made  in  this  capacity  before  the 
Georgia  Legislature  on  April  1st,  1863,  in  which  the 
objections  to  the  proposed  plan  are  carefully  stated,  and 
answered  with  great  terseness  and  force.  One  expression 
was  definitely  prophetic  of  what  occurred  within  two  years. 
"But  let  our  finances  be  ruined,  let  food  and  clothing 
continue  to  advance  until  our  soldiers  find  their  families 
are  starving  and  naked,  they  will  return  to  attend  to  that 
first  of  all  duties, —  to  provide  for  their  own  households." 
It  was  precisely  this  that  reduced  General  Lee's  army, 
during  the  winter  of  1864-1865,  to  such  small  numbers 
that  he  was  compelled  to  evacuate  the  Petersburg  defences, 
and  presently  to  surrender  at  Appomattox.  When  the 
soldier's  monthly  pay  would  buy  scarcely  half  a  bushel  of 
corn,  when  word  came  from  many  a  home  that  they  were 
already  suffering  for  lack  of  food,  and  hopeless  as  to  rais- 
ing a  crop  for  the  coming  year,  then  many  a  husband  and 
father  did  that  which   nothing  else  on  earth  could  have 

13 


194  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

induced  him  to  do, —  left  his  place  in  the  ranks,  and  went 
home.  As  Boyce  had  said  four  years  before,  it  was  money 
that  decided  the  war. 

We  have  no  definite  information  as  to  the  reason  why 
Dr.  Boyce's  project  was  not  carried  through.  But  we 
know  that  three  months  after  his  speech  before  the  Georgia 
Legislature,  General  Lee  was  defeated  at  Gettysburg,  and 
hope  of  European  intervention,  or  of  European  demand  for 
Confederate  securities,  was  nearly  lost,  while  at  the  same 
time  General  Grant  captured  Vicksburg,  and  pressed  into 
the  interior  of  Mississippi ;  and  these  facts  would  appear 
sufficiently  to  explain  why  the  plan  in  question  was  tacitly 
abandoned. 

Still,  the  Confederates  had  no  thought  of  anything  else 
than  perseverance  in  the  struggle.  In  August,  1863,  Dr. 
Boyce  became  a  candidate  for  the  Confederate  Congress,  in 
opposition  to  Colonel  James  Farrow,  of  Spartanburg.  He 
stumped  the  district  for  a  number  of  weeks  in  August, 
September,  and  October.  At  many  points  he  was  met  by 
Colonel  Farrow,  in  the  old-fashioned  joint  debate.  Rev. 
Edward  C.  Logan,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  South 
Carolina,  who  had  been  Boyce's  fellow-student  at  the 
Charleston  College,  was  ref  ugeeing  at  Beidville,  in  Spartan- 
burg District,  and  went  to  hear  Boyce  at  a  place  not  far 
distant.  ^'  He  greeted  me  very  cordially,  and  seemed 
gratified  .at  having  an  old  class-mate  and  fellow-Charles- 
tonian  to  hear  him.  He  spoke  well.  His  first  speech 
(leading  off  in  the  debate)  was  in  manuscript,  and  he  read 
it  tolerably  closel}^ ;  but  in  replying  to  Colonel  Farrow  he 
spoke  of  course  without  notes,  and  spoke  well.  He  lost 
the  election;  but  that  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at  when 
we  consider  that  he  was  pitted  against  a  gentleman  who 
had  won,  I  am  told,  in  thirty  popular  elections. '^ 

Besides  the  remarkable  popularit}^  of  his  antagonist, 
Bo^'ce's  defeat  was  partlj^  due  to  the  fact  that  a  good  many 
Baptists,  who  were  numerous  in  that  Congressional  Dis- 


DR.  BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  195 

trict,  were  really  opposed  to  having  a  Baptist  minister  go 
to  Congress.  It  is  possible  that  if  he  had  been  elected, 
his  service,  in  the  Confederate  Congress  would  have  pro- 
duced such  2i  penchant  for  political  debate  and  public  life 
that  he  might  not  have  resisted  the  earnest  efforts  of  some 
friends  after  the  war  to  bring  him  out  as  candidate  for  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  His  experience  in  stump- 
speaking,  as  well  as  in  the  Legislature,  distinctly  improved 
his  methods  of  preaching,  as  he  himself  was  aware  in  later 
years.  Mr.  Logan  heard  him  at  an  early  period  in  his 
round  of  the  Congressional  District,  and  the  manuscript 
is  believed  to  have  been  pretty  soon  abandoned.  He  con- 
tinued through  life  to  prefer  reading  a  sermon;  but  he 
was  much  at  his  best  in  a  practical  address  before  some 
religious  convention  or  association,  when  saturated  with 
his  subject,  and  speaking  with  perfect  freedom. 

In  a  letter  of  Sept.  23,  1864,  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Tupper 
(whose  husband  was  in  the  army  as  chaplain),  he  tells  her 
that  kid  gloves  are  not  to  be  had,  and  lisle-thread  gloves 
cost  fifteen  dollars.  He  had  some  time  before  seen  single- 
width  merino  dress-goods  in  Augusta  at  fifty  dollars  a  3'ard, 
and  hears  it  is  now  a  hundred,  but  thinks  he  can  still  get 
it  for  her  at  fifty.  Many  queer  stories  might  be  gathered 
about  prices  during  the  last  twelve  months  of  the  war,  that 
would  be  a  warning  now  to  the  '*  plenty  of  money  ^'  people, 
if  anything  could  warn  them. 

From  Xovember,  1864,  to  the  end  of  the  war,  jNIr.  Boyce 
was  aide-de-camp  to  Governor  A.  G.  M^grath,  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  State,  repeatedly  consulted  by  the  governor  in 
those  troublous  times.  As  aide-de-camp,  Colonel  Boyce 
was  acting  Provost-Marshal  of  Columbia  at  the  time 
of  its  capture  by  General  Sherman.  The  general  states  in 
his  Memoirs — of  course  upon  information  given  him  — 
that  the  burning  of  Columbia  was  due  to  a  quantitj^  of 
cotton  piled  in  one  of  the  streets,  and  fired  by  some  of 


196  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE, 

Hampton's  cavalry  in  retiring  at  his  approach.  But 
Bojce  always  declared  that  so  far  as  he  could  ascertain, 
then  or  afterwards,  he  was  himself  the  very  last  Con- 
federate that  rode  out  of  Columbia,  as  the  invaders  came 
up  the  street,  and  the  cotton  had  not  then  been  fired  at 
all.  He  retreated  with  the  governor  to  Charlotte  in  North 
Carolina,  and  thence  made  his  way  across  a  hundred  miles, 
a  good  part  of  the  distance  on  foot,  to  his  home  at 
Greenville. 

A  few  weeks  later,  a  small  brigade  of  Union  cavalry 
came  across  the  Blue  Bidge,  with  a  view  to  intercept  the 
retreat  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  party  through  Central 
South  Carolina  into  Georgia.  The  troops  encamped  at 
Greenville,  and  under  pretext  of  searching  for  firearms, 
they  searched  many  houses  for  jewelry  and  other  valuables. 
Dr.  Boj^ce's  house  stood  in  the  edge  of  the  town,  and  the 
large  building  and  spacious  lawn  would  soon  attract  their 
attention,  besides  the  fact  that  from  some  source  they  were 
informed  that  the  family  possessed  a  large  amount  of  plate 
and  jewelry,  including  some  diamonds.  So,  after  seizing 
the  horses,  they  proceeded  to  plunder  the  entire  house, 
bursting  open  closets  and  wardrobes  and  trunks,  and 
flinging  everything  about,  in  the  wild  search  for  precious 
things.  Then  they  held  pistols  to  Dr.  Boyce's  head,  and 
demanded  to  know  what  had  become  of  his  wife's  diamonds 
and  the  other  jewelry.  He  told  them  quietly  that,  learning 
of  their  approach  the  day  before,  he  had  intrusted  all  his 
plate  and  other  valuables  to  his  brother,  who  had  taken 
them  in  a  wagon  and  driven  away.  They  asked  furiously 
where  his  brother  had  gone;  and  he  answered  that  he  did 
not  know  at  all,  that  he  had  asked  his  brother  not  to  tell 
him.  They  stormed,  and  threatened  to  burn  and  kill;  but 
his  calm  replies  at  length  convinced  them,  and  they  left, 
carrying  away,  among  many  other  articles  of  clothing  and 
what  not,  the  wonderful  warm  overcoat  in  which  Boyce  had 
so  carefully  wrapped  his  invalid  friend  five  years  before, — 


DR.  BOYCE'S  PART  IN  THE   WAR.  197 

which  must  have  been  small  comfort  to  them  on  that  sum- 
mer expedition,  but  was  doubtless  worth  carrying  back  to 
the  climate  they  came  from.  Many  other  dwellings  in 
Greenville  were  plundered  in  like  manner;  though  the 
higher  officers,  when  they  could  be  got  at,  would  usually 
send  a  subaltern  with  us  to  the  house  indicated,  and  order 
the  men  away.  A  party  of  them  learned  by  inquiry  where 
the  bank  was  ;  and  entering  the  building,  they  went 
promptly  to  the  cellar,  tapped  the  wall  till  the  sound 
changed,  then  tore  out  the  bricks,  and  appropriated  a  good 
many  thousands  in  specie  which  the  careful  bank  president 
had  very  secretly  walled  in,  some  months  before.  Ah, 
they  were  old  hands.  ^  Walt  Whitman  ought  to  have 
w^ritten  a  so-called  poem  in  their  praise. 


198  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FIRST   SIX   YEARS   AT   GREENVILLE   AFTER   THE   WAR. 
1865-1871. 

EARLY  in  the  summer  of  1865  Dr.  Boyce  called  the 
four  professors  together  at  Greenville  to  consult  as 
to-  the  possibility  of  keeping  the  Seminary  alive,  and 
beginning  operations  in  October. 

The  prospect  was  sufficiently  discouraging.  The  Semi- 
nary had  practically  nothing.  A  large  part  of  the  sub- 
scriptions for  endowment  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  paid 
in  Confederate  money  and  invested  in  Confederate  bonds, 
and  so  had  become  an  utter  loss.  Fortunately  there  was 
no  debt.  In  fact,  like  many  other  things  that  we  call 
'^fortunate,"  this  was  the  result  of  wise  arrangements  from 
the  beginning.  Had  Boj^ce  undertaken  at  the  outset  to 
erect  buildings,  as  most  institutions  do,  we  should  have 
had  an  unfinished  building  and  a  debt.  But  subscriptions 
remaining  unpaid  w^ere  now  practically  worthless.  The 
whole  land  had  been  swept  as  by  a  cyclone.  Several 
thousand  millions  of  property  in  the  Southern  States  had 
perished,  including  the  value  of  the  slaves,  the  Confed- 
erate debt,  and  outstanding  currency,  the  war  debt  of 
several  States  (which  they  were  required  to  repudiate  in 
order  to  reconstruction),  and  the  greatly  diminished  value 
of  land.  Almost  all  those  who  had  been  wealthy  before 
the  war  were  now  really  poor,  many  of  them  burdened 
with  old  debts  which  had  formerly  seemed  a  trifle,  but 
now,  with  accumulated  interest,  were  a  millstone  around 
the  neck  of  the  impoverished  planter  or  merchant.  The 
whole   labor  system  was  broken  into  fragments  as  by  an 


AT   GREENVILLE   AFTER   THE    WAR  199 

earthquake,  and  no  man  could  calculate  on  the  business 
future.  There  was  no  currency  in  circulation  until  the 
cotton  which  planters  had  kept  on  hand  could  per- 
chance be  sold.  Numerous  families,  formerly  prosperous, 
or  at  least  comfortable,  had  not  a  dollar  of  money  fur 
many  months  after  the  close  of  the  war.  How  could  it  be 
deemed  possible,  in  such  a  situation,  and  amid  all  the 
social  and  political  uncertainty,  that  people  would  contri- 
bute thousands  of  dollars  during  the  next  twelve  months 
to  support  an  institution  of  higher  education?  There  were 
the  churches  to  be  sustained;  the  schools  of  every  grade 
must  be  revived,  if  possible;  the  colleges  had  lost  much  or 
all  of  their  endowment;  and  the  State  universities  were 
likely  to  be  helpless,  w^hen  it  could  hardly  be  said  that  the 
States  any  longer  existed. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  logic  of  human  nature  proved 
that  people  would  do  something.  By  a  remarkable  special 
providence,  the  war  had  ended  at  such  a  time  that  if  the 
Confederate  soldiers  hurried  home,  and  went  to  work  imme- 
diately on  arriving,  they  might  hope  to  raise  crops  of  corn 
and  cotton.  So,  far  and  wide  over  the  land  the  planters 
were  at  work.  Moreover,  the  colored  people  were  in  gen- 
eral well  disposed  towards  their  former  owners,  because  in 
general  they  had  been  kindly  treated,  and  thus  most  of 
them  were  working  too,  with  such  temporary  and  indefi- 
nite plans  as  could  be  arranged  between  them  and  the 
owners  of  land.  We  knew  also  that  the  Southern  whites 
were  upon  the  whole  a  high-toned  people.  The}'  had  sub- 
mitted to  the  arbitrament  of  war,  and  would  keep  their 
word;  but  they  had  not  lost  all  self-respect  and  self- 
reliance.  They  had  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  in  the  way 
they  had  struggled  against  overwhelming  superiority  of 
resources.  The  returned  soldiers  could  talk  without  fear 
about  the  battles  they  had  fought.  There  was  pluck  in  the 
people.  Most  of  all,  we  felt  a  submissive  trust  in  Provi- 
dence.    Through  all  the  dark  years  our  people  liad  been 


200  MEMOIR  OF   JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

trying  to  do  their  duty  according  to  their  light,  and  mul- 
titudes only  wanted  to  know  what  was  their  duty  now. 

Dr.  Boyce  stated  that  he  held  five  thousand  dollars  of 
Georgia  Eailroad  honds,^  which  in  all  probabilit}^  could  be 
sold  before  long,  not  for  par,  but  for  a  considerable  sum. 
AVhile  quite  unable  to  tell  as  yet  whether  much  would  be 
left  of  his  own  estate,  he  offered  to  make  a  personal  con- 
tribution of  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  coming  session; 
and  he  believed  that  when  the  cotton  on  hand  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  should  be  sold,  and  the  new  crop 
should  come  in,  it  A^ould  be  possible  to  find  friends  here 
and  there  who  would  make  larger  or  smaller  gifts.  It  was 
an  uncertain  future,  but  ever3^thing  around  us  was  uncer- 
tain. He  pointed  out  that  our  Seminary,  which  after 
years  of  effort  made  so  hopeful  a  beginning,  had  no  small 
liold  on  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  Baptist  people 
in  several  States,  and  so  might  possibly  keep  alive;  while 
if  it  were  abandoned,  a  whole  generation  or  more  must 
elapse,  and  we  be  all  in  our  graves,  before  brethren  would 
have  the  heart  to  attempt  again  the  establishment  of  a 
Common  Theological  School.  We  had  prayed  over  the 
question,  again  and  again.  Presently  some  one  said, 
*' Suppose  we  quietly  agree  that  the  Seminary  may  die, 
but  we '11  die  first."  All  heads  were  silently  bowed,  and 
the  matter  was  decided. 

We  had  small  means  of  advertising  the  intention  to  re- 
open the  institution.  Tlie  religious  newspapers  had  nearh' 
all  stopped,  and  were  able  to  resume  only  in  the  autumn  or 

1  These  had  come  from  H.  A.  Tupper,  in  payment  of  his  original 
subscription  for  the  Seminary,  and  they  probably  saved  its  life  at  this 
crisis.  The  sale  was  postponed  till  November,  1866,  when  they  brought 
3,878  dollars.  Boyce's  own  subscription  of  like  amount  was  paid  be- 
fore the  war  in  land  in  the  edge  of  Greenville  well  worth  that  amount. 
After  the  war  this  was  unsalable,  but  before  we  removed  from  Green- 
ville it  was  sold  at  a  very  handsome  advance  upon  the  original  sub- 
scription. 


AT   GREENVILLE   AFTER   THE   WAR.  201 

winter.  It  was  some  time  before  the  United  States  mail 
could  be  re-established,  especially  as  many  railroads  were 
destroyed.  We  could  not  hope  to  have  many  students,  but 
we  could  begin,  and  hope  for  a  future.  So  the  session 
opened  October  1st,  and  the  whole  number  of  students  that 
came  during  the  session  was  seven,  —  from  Virginia  one, 
North  Carolina  one.  South  Carolina  four,  Alabama  one. 
It  is  remembered  that  the  Professor  of  Homiletics  liad  but 
one  student  in  the  class,  and  that  a  blind  man.  But  we 
were  determined  to  keep  up  the  instruction  in  every  depart- 
ment; and  as  the  student  could  not  read  text-books,  the  pro- 
fessor tried  to  lay  out  a  somewhat  complete  course,  and  give 
it  to  him  in  lectures,  to  which  the  brother  listened  with 
unfailing  manifestations  of  kindly  interest.  A  work  whicli 
appeared  five  years  later,  entitled,  ^'Preparation  and  De- 
livery of  Sermons,"  and  which  a  good  many  persons  have 
found  useful,  quite  possibly  owed  its  origin  to  that  year's 
lessons  with  the  blind  student.  We  often  find  that  by 
*' doing  the  thing  that  is  next ""  to  us,  even  though  it  be 
''the  da}'  of  small  things,"  we  find  the  way  opening  for 
undertakings  which  otherwise  might  never  have  been 
planned.  It  would  be  pleasant  to  speak  of  several  men 
among  the  seven  students,  two  or  three  of  them  now  quite 
well  known ;  but  such  mention  cannot  be  kept  up  throughout 
the  coming  historj',  and  is  better  abandoned  at  once. 

Let  ITS  look  now  at  Dr.  Boyce's  personal  histor\^  just 
after  the  war.  In  August,  1865,  President  Andrew 
Johnson,  through  the  military  governor,  called  a  ''  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina," 
and  of  this  Convention  James  P.  Boyce  was  elected  a 
member.  Among  the  members  were  Ex-Governor  Pickens, 
Colonel  Orr,  Chancellor  Lesesne,  General  McGowan,  and 
others  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  State.  The  im- 
portant point  was  to  get  for  the  new  constitution  a  proper 
statement  as  to  slavery,  which  had  been  actually  abolished 
as  a  military  act,  but  must  now  be  forbidden  bv  the  State 


202  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

itself.  It  is  stated  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Whilden  that  after  numer- 
ous forms  had  been  proposed  by  eminent  members,  with  much 
discussion,  the  article  finally  adopted  for  the  constitution 
was  that  suggested  by  Dr.  Boyce.  In  October  we  find,  from 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Tapper,  that  friends  were  earnestly  urging 
Boyce  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Con- 
gress; but  he  meant  to  keep  out  of  it  if  possible.  During 
that  month  he  was  in  New  York  city,  and  bought  a  variety 
of  articles  of  clothing  for  the  Tupper  family,  and  doubtless 
also  for  his  own.  The  long  years  of  war  had  left  us  all  in 
a  queer  fix  as  to  decent  clothing,  and  the  want  had  to  be 
supplied  by  most  of  us  very  slowly ;  for,  besides  the  diffi- 
culty of  securing  money,  everything  was  at  fully  double 
price,  owing  to  the  inflation  of  the  United  States  currency 
and  the  general  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  finance. 

The  war  caused  Dr.  Boyce  heavy  losses  in  many  direc- 
tions. After  the  Confederate  bonds  became  of  doubtful 
value  he  invested  largely  in  some  new  bonds  issued  by 
the  State  of  Alabama;  but  President  Johnson  required 
these  to  be  repudiated  as  a  condition  of  reconstruction. 
We  have  seen  that  he  lost  nearly  all  of  the  large  sum  lent 
to  the  New  York  house  conducted  by  his  brothers-in- 
law  and  brother,  in  consequence  of  their  failure  at  the 
outset  of  the  war,  and  the  difficulty  of  collecting  the 
Southern  debts  turned  over  to  him.  But  this  was  not 
the  worst.  The  New  York  creditors  tried  to  hold  him 
responsible  for  all  the  debts  of  the  establishment,  which 
would  have  swept  away  every  cent  he  had.  Their  lawj^ers 
detected  some  technical  defect  in  the  articles  of  agree- 
ment by  which  he  had  withdrawn  from  the  house,  and  had 
simply  lent  to  the  new  company  what  had  formerly  been 
his  share  in  the  capital.  Their  course  was  flagrantly  un- 
just, for  the  design  of  the  agreement  was  obvious;  but 
most  men  insist  upon  all  that  the  law  will  give  them.  It 
was  a  mere  question  of  legal  quibble  and  conflict.  Por 
some  time   he  could  not  enter  the  city  of  New  York,  at 


AT   GREENVILLE   AETER  THE   WAR.  203 

least  openly,  for  fear  of  being  arrested  by  these  men.  On 
one  occasion  he  sent  Dr.  Manly  to  look  into  the  matter. 
At  another  time  he  stayed  a  good  while  in  Newark,  N.  J. 
Mr.  Whilden  was  then  with  him,  and  speaks  of  the  cheer- 
fulness which  Boyce  maintained  under  all  this  pressure 
of  obvious  wrong  and  possible  ruin.  He  often  entertained 
his  friend  for  hours  by  reading  aloud,  —  a  pastime  to 
which  his  rich,  sonorous  voice  and  his  sympathetic  nature 
always  gave  a  special  charm.  Whilden  still  remembers 
various  passages  of  Scripture  as  he  read  them. 

At  length  Dr.  Boyce  himself,  more  keen-siglited  than 
his  lawyers,  detected  a  legal  flaw  in  the  procedure  of  his 
adversaries.  The  law  required  (if  the  matter  is  correctly 
remembered)  that  notice  of  any  business  claim  which  was 
interrupted  by  war  should  be  sent  w'ithin  six  months 
after  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  notice  received  by 
Boyce  was  dated  much  more  than  six  months  after  the  end 
of  the  war,  and  it  made  no  allusion  to  anj^  previous  notice 
to  the  same  effect.  This  is  a  good  example  of  proving  a 
negative  in  away  sufficient  for  practical  conviction,  though 
not  theoretically  complete.  With  one  technicality  arrayed 
against  another,  the  result  was  a  compromise;  and  the 
considerable  sum  which  he  agreed  to  pay  occupied  much 
of  his  attention  for  several  years,  and  drew  heavily  upon 
what  remained  of  his  estate.  Furthermore,  he  had  been 
one  of  the  committee  for  erecting  the  Female  College 
building  in  Greenville,  and  in  like  manner  of  the  com- 
mittee for  building  the  Baptist  church.  A  large  debt 
remained  in  each  case,  now  greatly  increased  by  interest 
at  seven  per  cent  per  annum.  In  both  committees  Dr. 
Boj^ce  was  about  the  only  man  who  had  any  available 
property  left,  and  with  him  all  was  uncertain,  because  of 
the  New  York  affair  and  other  matters.  These  debts  also 
he  finally  compromised  at  about  one  third  of  principal  and 
interest,  the  church  aiding  a  good  deal  in  the  payment  of 
the  debt  for  its  house  of  worship. 


204  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

This  rate  for  settlement  of  ante-helium  debt  rapidly  be- 
came common  in  upper  South  Carolina,  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  celebrated  James  L.  Orr,  who  had  become  judge  of 
the  Circuit  Court.  In  opening  court  at  Greenville,  Judge 
Orr  reviewed  the  financial  situation,  and  dwelt  especially 
upon  these  old  debts.  He  pointed  out  that  if  the  debts 
had  been  paid  before  the  war,  and  invested,  as  was  com- 
mon, in  land  and  negroes,  the  owners  w^ould  not  now  be 
possessing  more  than  one  third  of  the  original  value,  as 
the  slave  propert}^  was  gone,  and  the  land  depreciated. 
He  said  the  Legislature  could  do  nothing  to  give  relief  in 
such  cases;  for  if  it  should  pass  any  law  ^^  impairing  the 
obligation  of  contract,"  the  courts  must  necessarily  declare 
it  in  violation  of  the  United  States  Constitution,  and 
therefore  of  no  effect.  But  he  said  that  a  pett}?-  jury  is 
a  very  remarkable  institution.  When  a  debt  has  been 
proven,  the  jury  can  give  judgment  for  such  amount  as  it 
may  think  right  and  proper;  and  if,  in  case  of  these  debts 
from  before  the  war,  the  juries  should,  as  a  rule  (making 
exception  of  peculiar  cases),  give  judgment  for  about  one 
third  of  principal  and  interest,  he  did  not  see  how  the 
court  would  have  any  cause  to  object,  and  it  was  quite 
likely  that  the  public  welfare  would  be  greatly  promoted. 
Upon  this  hint  several  juries  quietly  acted,  until  credi- 
tors began  to  apprehend  the  situation,  and  would  agree  to 
settle  at  this  rate,  without  the  expense  and  dela'y  of  a  law- 
suit. The  idea  spread  rapidly  in  that  region,  being  quite 
generally  approved  by  the  judgment  of  thoughtful  men. 
Pity  something  equivalent  was  not  done  in  man}^  other 
Southern  States,  where  the  old  debts  occasioned  grievous 
distress  for  years  and  years. 

The  above  details  of  Dr.  Boyce's  private  affairs  have 
been  given  in  order  to  show  how  difficult  and  trying  was 
the  situation  in  which  he  undertook  to  hold  up  the  Semi- 
nary. A  good  many  of  its  friends  were  prompt  to  think 
that  he  would  sustain  the   institution   from  his  private 


AT  GREENVILLE  AFTER  THE   WAR.  205 

means,  and  the  idea  spread  widely  that  he  was  actually 
doing:  so.  He  could  not  afford  to  let  his  real  business 
situation  become  known  to  the  public,  because  that  would 
have  brought  demands  from  every  side,  and  cut  him  off 
from  the  possibility  of  working  matters  through.  What 
he  did  was  to  borrow  money  in  bank,  as  a  personal  debt, 
secured  by  his  own  collateral,  and  use  this  to  meet  the 
salaries  of  the  professors,  which  were  small  enough,  and 
really  worth  only  one  half,  in  consequence  of  the  high 
prices.  In  April,  1866,  he  gave  such  a  note  in  bank  for 
seven  thousand  dollars,  in  order  to  settle  for  the  year, 
having  already  advanced  the  money  from  time  to  time. 
This  state  of  things  continued  for  years  and  years,  with 
sums  varying  according  to  the  contributions  received.  In 
April,  1868,  his  notes  in  bank  for  the  purpose  rose  to 
eleven  thousand  dollars,  eighteen  months  later  were  re- 
duced to  half  that  amount,  and  afterwards  increased  again. 
To  keep  up  these  loans  was  often  a  sore  burden.  He 
needed  his  collateral  for  other  purposes.  He  saw  oppor- 
tunities for  profitable  investment,  but  could  not  use  them. 
Of  course  the  Seminary  paid  the  interest  on  loans  thus 
effected  for  its  benefit. 

In  the  summer  of  1866  he  made  desperate  exertions  to 
collect  for  the  Seminary's  support.  In  May,  when  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  met,  at  Eussellville,  KJ^,  for 
the  first  time  after  the  war,  he  received  in  cash  $1203.50. 
In  June  he  got  in  Baltimore  $367,  and  in  Eichmond  $359. 
In  July  he  made  collections  in  Missouri  and  Kentucky 
to  the  amount  of  $654.  Some  few  persons  made  partial 
payments  on  old  bonds.  It  cost  heavily  to  send  out  agents 
in  different  directions,  and  to  pay  the  travelling  expenses 
of  various  professors  sent  to  different  points,  in  addition 
to  his  own  journeys. 

So  the  matter  went  on  year  after  year,  with  earnest 
appeals  at  every  promising  point  that  could  be  reached. 
On  July  1,  1867,  he  sent  far  and  wide  a  lithographed  let- 


206  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

ter,  explaining  the  work  of  the  Seminary,  and  setting  forth 
its  pressing  needs.  This  states  that  during  the  year  pre- 
ceding he  had  obtained  some  $50,000  in  bonds  for  five 
annual  payments  j  i  but  on  most  of  these  the  first  payment 
was  not  yet  due,  and  money  was  sorely  needed.  Through 
the  unsettled  state  of  business  in  every  respect,  a  consider- 
able portion  of  these  annual  bonds  was  in  fact  never  paid, 
and  tlie  amount  had  to  be  supplemented  in  every  possible 
way.  Some  years  later,  a  similar  effort  was  made  to 
obtain  five-year  bonds. 

1  Rev.  Cleon  Keyes,  a  gifted  and  now  venerable  minister  in  north- 
ern Kentucky,  relates  that  Dr.  Boyce  came  in  1866  to  the  Bracken 
Association,  in  the  region  adjacent  to  Cincinnati.  He  wanted  to  meet 
the  popular  objections  to  ministerial,  especially  to  theological,  educa- 
tion, and  it  was  privately  arranged  that  Keyes  should  speak  in  opposition 
to  the  resolution  introduced.  He  brought  out  strongly  the  familiar 
objections,  and  felt  persuaded  in  concluding  that  Boyce  would  have 
difficulty  in  answering;  he  even  feared  that  harm  might  be  done.  But 
his  narrative  proceeds :  "  The  Doctor  arose,  perfectly  calm  and  self- 
possessed,  to  make  his  address.  He  was  then  in  his  prime,  —  a  mag- 
nificent specimen  of  well-developed  manhood  ;  his  voice  was  clear  and 
strong,  and  his  words  as  they  fell  from  his  lips  seemed  as  if  coined  for 
the  occasion.  He  at  first,  in  the  most  courteous  manner,  completely 
demolished  the  objections  raised  in  my  speech,  and  then  proceeded  to 
deliver  one  of  the  ablest  addresses  on  theological  education  I  have  ever 
heard  from  any  one.  When  he  closed,  he  had  captured  the  whole  Asso- 
ciation. Everybody  seemed  ready  to  give  a  bond,  running  five  years, 
to  keep  the  Seminary  alive  until  a  permanent  endowment  could  be 
secured.  Many  thought  strange  that  his  opponent  in  the  discussion 
was  the  first  to  offer  a  bond,  and  some  said  afterwards,  to  the  great 
amusement  of  Dr.  Boyce,  that  it  was  the  quickest  conversion  they  had 
ever  witnessed."  The  two  men  became  warm  friends,  and  in  later 
years,  when  Boyce  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  sought  to  provide  for 
removing  the  Seminary,  Mr.  Keyes  was  an  ever-ready  helper,  even 
tT'avelling  with  him  for  two  weeks  through  the  churches  of  the 
Bracken.  Mr.  Keyes  speaks  very  warmly  of  some  sermons  Boyce 
preached  during  these  journeys,  and  adds:  "  Had  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  pulpit,  he  would,  I  doubt  not,  have  taken  rank  with  the  ablest 
preachers  of  the  American  pulpit.  ...  As  an  agent  he  was  a  prince 
among  men,  commanding  the  confidence  and  love  of  all." 


AT  GREENVILLE  AFTER  THE   WAR.  207 

It  is  hardly  best  to  go  through  the  details  of  these  varied 
and  often  desperate  exertions,  year  after  year.  At  one 
time  he  concluded  that  it  would  be  best  to  cease  borrowing 
money  for  paying  the  salaries,  and  let  it  be  understood 
that  they  were  far  in  arrears.  So  pretty  soon  the  profes- 
sors had  received  no  salary  for  twelve  months,  and  could 
not  be  sure  they  ever  would  receive  it;  and  under  these 
circumstances  they  had  to  buy  the  necessaries  of  life  from 
Greenville  dealers  on  twelve  months  credit,  with  corre- 
sponding addition  to  the  price  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Pathetic  details  might  be  given  of  the  real  distress  and 
humiliation  under  which  the  professors  worked  on  through 
those  years  of  trial.  But  let  all  that  pass.  There  were 
not  a  few  other  professors,  in  various  Southern  colleges, 
who  suffered  equally,  in  some  cases  perhaps  more.  To  do 
the  work  of  two  or  three  men  on  half  the  salary  of  one  man, 
with  that  salary  in  arrears  and  no  certainty  of  ever  receiv- 
ing it,  was  a  common  experience.  Some  of  these  men 
were  repeatedly  invited  to  comparatively  large  salaries  in 
more  favored  institutions  or  more  prosperous  parts  of  the 
country,  but  they  stood  by  the  work  which  Providence  had 
appointed  them.  And  above  all  the  heroic  sacrifices  which 
professors  made  in  those  days,  above  even  the  unconquer- 
able and  really  splendid  exertions  of  Dr.  Boyce  to  obtain 
the  necessary  funds,  rose  the  zealous  devotion  of  many 
contributors.  Struggling  business  men  who  needed  every 
dollar  they  could  command,  pastors  and  other  men  living 
on  uncertain  salary,  who  knew  not  whether  they  could 
make  ends  meet  with  the  ending  year,  often  gave  gifts 
very  large  for  their  circumstances,  and  accompanied  by 
w-ords  of  utmost  kindness  and  cheer.  It  was  simply  mag- 
nificent, the  way  in  which  our  Southern  people  during  the 
years  that  followed  the  war,  just  struggling  to  get  on  their 
feet  financially,  amid  all  the  humiliations  and  solicitudes 
of  the  Reconstruction  period,  yet  resolutely  held  up  their 
churches  and  their  colleges,  and  whatever  belonged  to  their 


208  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

higher  civilization.  These  and  their  homes  often  seemed 
all  that  was  left  to  them.  These  must  not,  should  not, 
perish.  An  inferior  people  would  have  let  the  higher 
education  go.  But  Southerners  had  always  valued  higher 
education,  however  deficient  their  provision  for  instructing 
poor  children.  And  they  not  simply  did  themselves  honor, 
they  revealed  their  real  character,  by  holding  up  those 
institutions  through  all  the  years  of  Eeconstruction,  which 
in  some  States  were  far  more  trying  than  the  years  of  war. 

It  would  be  a  pleasure  to  mention  some  notably  generous 
givers  whose  names  appear  in  the  treasurer's  books  for  this 
period.  But  one  would  not  know  where  to  cease.  And 
small  sums  were  often  given  with  quite  as  much  of  sacrifice 
and  loving  devotion  as  the  largest  gifts.  The  record  is 
tempting,  for  it  contains  names  of  Baptist  men  and  women 
greatly  honored  among  us,  and  greatly  deserving  to  be 
honored.  It  must  be  mentioned  that  in  1868  the  Board 
requested  Professor  Manly  *'  to  solicit  funds,  especially  at 
the  Xorth, ''  for  the  personal  expenses  of  needy  students. 
In  Philadelphia  and  Xew  York  he  obtained  contributions 
for  this  purpose  that  were  not  only  liberal,  but  given  with 
marked  cordiality;  and  this  was  continued  in  response  to 
like  application  in  several  following  years.  At  a  later 
period  also  the  Seminary  will  be  found  to  have  received 
very  generous  aid  from  honored  brethren  at  the  North. 

In  1868,  amid  all  his  wearisome  journej'ing,  and  often 
poorly  successful  aj^peals,  and  struggling  efforts  of  every 
kind  to  sustain  the  Seminary,  and  his  personal  losses  and 
anxieties,  Dr.  Boyce  was  privately  offered,  and  urged  to 
accept,  the  ofiice  of  President  of  the  South  Carolina  Eail- 
road  Company,  with  a  salary  of  $10,000  per  annum.  To 
Mr.  Whilden,  who  had  been  asked  to  communicate  the  offer, 
he  replied,  ''Thank  the  gentlemen  for  me,  but  tell  them  I 
must  decline,  as  I  have  decided  to  devote  my  life,  if  need 
be,  to  building  up  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary."    There  were  like  offers  in  later  years.      It  was  not 


AT   GREENVILLE   AFTER   THE   WAR.  209 

simply  a  personal  sacrifice  to  turn  away  from  such  oppor- 
tunities, for  besides  the  fact  that  by  living  in  Charleston 
or  in  Xew  York  cit}'-  he  might  have  regained  his  own 
estate,  he  felt  an  intense  desire  to  help  his  brothers  and 
sisters  in  regard  to  their  property,  so  much  of  which  had 
been  lost  in  consequence  of  the  war.  He  was  also  sadly 
hindered  in  his  work  as  professor  by  this  frequent  journey- 
ing and  almost  perpetual  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  Sem- 
inary's finances.  How  often  he  must  have  looked  sadl}-- 
around  upon  his  noble  library  when  setting  out  for  some 
new  begging  expedition,  and  felt  the  pang  of  parting  from 
the  books  he  loved  so  well !  He  was  also  ambitious  as  to 
his  special  studies.  His  colleagues  in  their  departments, 
and  professors  elsewhere  in  his  department,  could  be  push- 
ing their  studies,  mastering  their  subjects;  but  he  —  he 
must  go  off  again  and  beg.  True,  there  was  some  compen- 
sation. He  liked  to  travel.  It  gave  him  needed  exercise, 
which  at  home  he  was  apt  to  neglect.  He  could  sleep 
well  on  the  train,  even  when  sitting  in  the  ordinarj^  car. 
He  read  a  great  deal  on  such  journeys,  chiefly  poetry,  of 
which  he  was  very  fond,  or  romances  and  other  light  works, 
including  many  French  books  in  the  original,  but  some- 
times a  history,  occasionally  a  work  of  profound  thought, 
according  to  his  mood  and  his  health.  It  is  a  man's  duty 
to  make  the  best  of  everything,  and  he  had  a  cheerful 
spirit,  which  would  usually  rise  triumphant  over  all 
sacrifice  and  trial. 

In  October,  1869,  he  wrote  from  Charleston  to  a  young 
relative  who  was  a  pupil  in  Professor  John  Hart's  famous 
school  for  girls  at  Charlottesville,  Va.,  and  we  make  an 
extract  :  — 

''  While  you  are  in  Virginia  you  will  hear  a  great  deal  aT)ttiit  the 
war,  and  see  many  men  who  have  been  in  battle.  Suppose  you 
keep  a  little  book,  and  whenever  you  hear  any  matter  of  interest 
write  it  down  in  your  book,  being  particular  to  keep  the  dates  and 
names  of  persons  perfectly  con-ect,  and  to  state  the  events  as  fully 

14 


210  MEMOIR   OF   JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

as  you  can  recollect  them.  Always  be  accurate,  only  putting 
down  what  you  know  was  said,  and  also  the  name  of  the  narrator. 
You  will  hear  a  great  deal  as  interesting  as  'Surrey  of  Eagle's 
Nest,'  or  as  many  other  books  you  have  read  of  adventure  and 
heroism.  Whatever  else  may  be  the  verdict  of  history,  —  let  its 
writers  be  so  befogged  as  to  believe  that  the  North  fought  to  free 
the  slaves,  and  not  for  its  own  selfish  interests  of  gain,  and  that 
the  South  fought  to  defend  slavery,  and  not  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  States,  —  one  thing  is  sure,  that  history  must  accord 
to  the  Confederate  army  in  Virginia,  under  Generals  Lee,  Jackson, 
and  others,  the  exhibition  of  fortitude,  bravery,  chivalric  courtesy, 
and  knightly  courage  never  surpassed  in  any  nation  or  period  of 
time.     Try  then  to  hear  of  these  things,  and  remember." 

The  internal  history  of  tlie  Seminary  during  these  years 
showed  steady  progress.  We  have  seen  that  in  the  first 
session  after  the  war  there  were  but  seven  students.  In  the 
second  there  were  fifteen,  and  in  the  third  thirty-one.  In 
these  two  sessions  (1866-1868)  Virginia  still  kept  the  lead, 
and  South  Carolina  had  very  few,  —  probabl}^  on  account 
of  the  Reconstruction  troubles,  which  in  that  State  were 
felt  so  keenly.  In  the  next  session  (1868-1869)  Virginia 
fell  off  to  five,  and  South  Carolina  rose  to  fourteen,  and 
always  afterwards  kept  the  lead  while  the  Seminary  re- 
mained in  that  State.  The  whole  number  that  fourth  year 
was  forty-six,  and  for  the  next  year  it  rose  to  sixty-one, 
with  a  marked  increase  from  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mis- 
sissippi, with  two  from  Texas,  five  from  Kentuckj^,  and 
four  from  Missouri.  The  following  year  (1870-1871)  the 
number  fell  back  to  fifty-three;  but  afterwards  steadily 
grew  again,  till  for  the  four  last  sessions  at  Greenville 
there  were  from  sixty-six  to  sixty-eight  students. 

In  1869  the  finances  were  in  a  more  hopeful  condition, 
and  the  Board  of  Trustees  approved  Boyce's  purchase  (on 
credit)  of  the  Goodlet  House,  —  a  hotel  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  United  States  garrison  after  the  war,  and 
which,  as  now  thoroughly  repaired,  furnished  dormitories 
and  dining-room  for  the  students,  where  they  could  live 


AT   GREENVILLE  AFTER  THE   WAR.  211 

much  more  cheaply  than  in  boarding-houses  or  private 
families.  It  was  otherwise  also  a  good  investment,  for  the 
building  was  sold,  when  the  Seminary  moved  away,  for 
much  more  than  it  had  cost. 

The  same  year  the  Board  appointed,  at  the  faculty's 
request,  a  fifth  professor,  Kev.  Crawford  H.  Toy.  It  has 
been  heretofore  mentioned  that  Professor  Toy  was  a  student 
of  the  Seminary  during  its  first  year.  Since  the  war  he 
had  spent  two  years  in  Europe,  devoting  himself  chiefly  to 
the  Arabic  and  Sanscrit  languages.  He  had  now  been  for 
a  year  the  Professor  of  Greek  in  Furman  University,  and 
was  alread}^  a  man  of  great  attainments,  not  only  in  lan- 
guage, but  in  physical  science  and  in  general  literature.  In 
the  Seminary  he  w^as  made  Professor  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  Oriental  Languages.^  The  special  desire  in  adding  a 
fifth  professor  was  to  relieve  Dr.  Boyce  of  teaching  Pole- 
mics, and  Dr.  Broadus  of  Homiletics,  as  the  latter's  health 

1  Professor  Toy's  inaugural  lecture  was  published  as  a  pamphlet, 
and  discussed  "The  Claims  of  Biblical  Interpretation  on  Baptists." 
He  shows  that  "on  Baptists  there  rests  a  special  obligation  in  regard  to 
the  Scriptures,"  because  of  *' our  complete  dependence  on  the  Bible." 
We  profess  to  make  it,  and  it  alone,  our  religion.  We  accept  all 
that  it  teaches,  and  nothing  else.  ...  If  we  could  lean  on  the 
decisions  of  Councils,  Convocations,  or  Assemblies,  .  .  .  royal  or 
episcopal  decrees,  array  of  patristic,  scholastic,  and  other  lore,  .  .  . 
it  might  not  be  so  needful  for  us  to  cling  close  to  the  word  of  God  as 
our  sole  guide;  but  now  we  have  no  other  resource.  It  is  our  pole-star. 
Without  it  we  are  on  a  boundless  ocean,  w^-apped  in  darkness."  He 
lU'ges  that  for  right  interpretation  of  the  Bible  w^e  need,  on  the  one 
hand,  "  learning  and  thought,"  and,  on  the  other  hand,  "  the  inspiration 
and  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  After  discussing  at  length  the 
history  of  interpretation  in  all  ages,  he  points  out  as  the  result  that  we 
must  in  any  passage  consider,  (1)  the  meaning  of  the  words;  (2)  the 
context;  (3)  the  relations  of  this  passage  to  the  whole  of  tlie  divine 
revelation  of  truth;  (4)  the  Christian  consciousness,  with  solemn  invo- 
cation of  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  says:  "A  fundamental 
principle  of  our  Hermeneutics  must  be  that  the  Bible,  its  real  asser- 
tions being  known,  is  in  every  iota  of  its  substance  absolutely  and 
infallibly  true." 


212  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

was  impaired,  and  Homiletics,  in  addition  to  New  Testa- 
ment, was  proving  too  much  for  him,  and  as  Dr.  Boyce  was 
so  much  hindered  by  business  cares  and  journeyings.  Dr. 
Manly,  who  wa.s  highly  versatile,  and  quite  varied  in  his 
attainments,  consented  to  take  Polemics  and  Homiletics  in 
connection  with  Biblical  Introduction,  which  he  retained. 
These  arrangements  gave  needed  relief  and  promised  ex- 
cellent results,  and  the  large  increase  in  the  number  of 
students  the  following  session  was  very  encouraging. 

Still,  the  financial  needs  would  grow  pressing,  and  Boyce 
must  journey  in  this  direction  or  that,  and  repeat  his  vehe- 
ment pleadings.  His  sister  relates  that  he  once  made  an 
appeal,  in  the  Citadel  Square  Church  of  Charleston,  until 
she  sat  and  wept  to  hear  him  beg  so  hard.  In  addressing 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  he  once  said,  "  I  have 
begged  for  this  Seminary  as  I  would  not  beg  for  myself  if 
I  were  starving; ''  and  his  proud  face  proved  it  true.  Judge 
Pressley  relates  that  in  January,  1870,  he  went  with  Dr. 
Boyce  from  Charleston  to  Chattanooga  as  attorney  for  the 
Boyce  estate,  to  supervise  the  sale  of  certain  property. 
Unexpected  legal  complications  were  contrived  by  the  pur- 
chasers, which  would  long  delay  payment.  At  one  o'clock 
at  night  Pressley  awoke  in  their  chamber,  and  found  that 
Boyce,  in  the  other  bed,  was  not  asleep.  So  he  said,  ''I 
think  all  this  will  come  out  straight ! "  Boyce  replied, 
*'  Wiat  I  am  troubled  about  is  the  Seminary.  I  have  been 
advancing  funds,  and  more  money  is  pressingly  needed 
now.  I  expected  to  get  the  money  here;  how  can  I  keep 
the  Seminary  going?"  Pressley  suggested  that  the  insti- 
tution might  be  suspended;  but  Boyce  answered,  ^^That 
would  kill  it ;  and  I  '11  spend  every  cent  I  have  rather  than 
suspend."  Soon  after  this  he  began  a  new  effort  to  obtain 
five-year  bonds,  and  the  responses  were  so  encouraging 
that  he  grew  more  hopeful. 

In  May,  1870,  Dr.  Boyce  gave  a  signal  proof  of  his  per- 
sonal generosity,  in  suggesting  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 


AT  GREENVILLE   AFTER  THE   WAR.  213 

that  his  colleague,  Professor  Broadus,  should  be  sent  to 
Europe  for  his  health,  on  leave  of  absence  for  a  year,  with 
salar}^  and  provision  for  expenses.  Boyce  had  long  keenly 
desired  to  go  to  Europe  himself.  He  spoke  of  it  in  his 
letters  when  a  student  at  Princeton,  when  pastor  at  Colum- 
bia, when  professor  in  Furman  University.  But  he  saw 
that  the  Seminary  could  not  go  forward  without  his  pre- 
sence and  exertions  to  care  for  the  finances.  So,  witliout  a 
word  about  himself,  postponing  still  his  cherished  wish,  he 
cared  for  his  suffering  colleague.  The  latter's  health  had 
been  sorely  strained  in  the  years  following  the  war,  by 
teaching  all  the  week  and  then  preaching  every  Sunday, 
till  in  1868  the  Board  had  requested  him  ''to  dissolve  his 
pastoral  relations,  in  view  of  the  state  of  his  health."  Tliis 
request  was  designed,  and  employed,  to  satisfy  esteemed 
friends  in  the  churches  served,  that  a  resignation  was  neces- 
sary. Now  that  Professor  Toy  was  present,  and  could  help 
carry  the  burdens  of  instruction,  and  the  finances  were 
more  hopeful,  Boyce  proposed  the  journey  mentioned;  and 
thus  prolonged  a  life  which  otherwise  could  not  have  lasted 
many  years,  or  could  have  lasted  only  with  frail  health 
and  little  power  for  work.  He  overcame  by  cordial  assur- 
ances the  natural  reluctance  to  impose  such  expense  upon 
the  Seminary,  and  exerted  himself  in  various  ways  to 
remove  every  sting  from  the  journey  and  add  to  it  every 
element  of  enjoyment  and  profit.  He  also  taught  the  New 
Testament  English  class  during  the  professor's  absence, 
while  Professor  Toy  took  the  Greek. 

Dr.  Boyce  was  elected  President  of  an  important  Baptist 
Educational  Convention  at  Marion,  Ala.,  in  1870,  and  of 
another  at  Bichmond,  Va.,  in  1871.  In  November  of  that 
year  he  was  elected  President  of  the  South  Carolina  Bap- 
tist State  Convention,  and  would  no  doul)t  have  been  often 
re-elected,  but  for  his  removal  to  Kentucky.  The  degree 
of  LL.D.  was  conferred  on  him  in  1872  by  Union  Uni- 
versity, Murfreesboro,  Tenn. 


214  IVIEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

In  the  summer  of  1871  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  Jr.,  accepted 
an  invitation  to  become  President  of  Georgetown  College, 
Kentucky.  One  inducement  was  the  opi^ortunity  it  would 
give  for  educating  his  growing  sons  under  his  own  eye, 
and  partly  by  his  own  instruction,  as  his  honored  father 
had  educated  him.  Another  reason  w^as  that,  somewhat  to 
the  surprise  of  his  colleagues,  he  took  no  fancy  to  teaching 
Homiletics.  We  all  thought  him  eminently  adapted  to 
the  interesting  and  helpful  correction  of  written  sermons 
and  other  exercises ;  but  he  disliked  the  drudgery  of  the 
task,  and  the  dislike  grew^  upon  him.  There  was  also  a 
better  salary  at  Georgetown,  which,  with  his  large  and 
growing  family,  was  a  thing  proper  to  be  regarded.  And 
he  thought  the  Seminary  could  do  without  him  now,  as 
there  were'  four  other  professors.  His  colleagues  vehe- 
mently opposed  his  leaving,  feeling  assured  that  the  loss 
of  so  gifted  an  instructor,  with  a  personal  influence  so 
winning  and  wholesome,  would  be  irreparable. 

Dr.  Boyce's  published  writings  up  to  this  time  w^ere  not 
extensive.  His  ''Three  Changes  in  Theological  Institu- 
tions," and  his  published  sermon  at  the  dedication  of  the 
church  in  Columbia,  have  been  heretofore  mentioned,  as 
also  his  speeches  and  articles  about  the  financial  question 
he  brought  before  the  South  Carolina  Legislature.  At 
the  funeral  of  the  venerated  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  Sr.,  which 
occurred  at  Greenville,  Dec.  22, 1868,  the  Funeral  Discourse 
was  given  by  Dr.  Boyce,  and  was  afterwards  published 
under  the  title,  "Life  and  Death  the  Christian's  Portion." 
Half  of  the  discourse  gives  a  singularly  strong  and  helpful 
discussion  of  the  two  great  thoughts  that  Life  belongs  to 
the  Christian,  and  Death  belongs  to  the  Christian,  from  the 
text,  1  Cor.  iii.  21,  22:  'Tor  all  things  are  j^ours;  whether 
Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or 
things  present,  or  things  to  come ;  all  are  yours. "  The  other 
half  gives  a  very  interesting  outline  of  Dr.  Manly's  life,  a 
portion  of  which  we  have  heretofore   quoted,   as  contain- 


AT  GREENVILLE  AFTER  THE   WAR.  215 

ing  Bojxe's  early  recollections  of  the  beloved  pastor  in 
Charleston.  We  cannot  refrain  from  here  further  extract- 
ing the  very  striking  and  suggestive  comparison  of  Dr. 
Manly  with  two  other  celebrated  educators :  — 

'^  He  now  entered  upon  an  untried  sphere,  — the  Presidency  of 
the  University  of  Alabama,  located  at  Tuscaloosa  in  that  State  ; 
but  he  went  only  to  gather  fresh  laurels,  and  to  become  addition- 
ally useful  to  his  country  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  It  was 
indeed  to  secular  education  only  that  he  was  giving  himself; 
but  he  knew  how  the  influence  obtained  in  thus  educating  the 
youth  of  a  State  could  be  made  available  to  the  cause  of  the 
Redeemer.  And  of  all  men  there  was  none  who  could  so  use 
it  more  eflFectively. 

"As  a  College  President,  Dr.  Manly  was  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  most  successful.  In  this  respect  he  will  bear  full  comparison 
with  his  beloved  friend,  the  lamented  Wayland.  Diff"ering  in 
many  particulars,  both  intellectually  and  physically,  located  under 
dificrent  influences,  entirely  unlike  in  the  character  of  their  pulpit 
efforts,  they  were  remarkably  similar  in  their  administrative 
capacity,  and  in  the  impress  they  left  upon  the  educational 
interests  in  their  respective  sections.  They  were  both  in  the 
fullest  sense  the  presidents,  the  controlling  spirits,  of  their  respec- 
tive universities.  The  students,  the  faculty,  the  very  Board  of 
Trustees,  looked  up  to  them  as  to  the  heads,  by  which  all  was  to 
be  governed.  Neither  of  them  could  have  brooked  any  other  posi- 
tion. The  responsibility  of  their  office  was  felt,  and  in  bearing 
its  responsibility  they  felt  that  they  must  exercise  its  authority. 

''  In  the  impress  made  upon  their  respective  students,  however, 
there  were  contrasts,  which  marked  the  differences  of  the  men. 
Dr.  Wayland  stamped  his  mind  more  upon  his  students;  Dr. 
Manly,  his  heart.  The  influence  of  the  latter  was  more  over 
the  spiritual,  that  of  the  former  more  over  the  intellectual,  uature. 
Yet  we  are  not  here  to  find  evidence  of  superior  intellect  in  the 
one,  any  more  than  of  superior  spiritual  life  in  the  other.  The 
truth  is,  to  compare  them  in  either  respect  is  difficult.  In  some 
intellectual  points.  Dr.  Wayland  was  the  superior  of  Dr.  Manly  ; 
but  in  others,  decidedly  the  inferior.  The  judgment  of  Dr. 
Manly  was  far  better,  much  more  accurate,  much  more  certain 


216  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

to  be  correct.  This  was  true  even  upon  subjects  which  Dr. 
Waylaud  had  more  thoroughly  studied.  Especially  was  it  true 
upon  the  intricate  questions  of  moral  and  intellectual  philosophy. 
In  Dr.  Manly  there  was  much  less  tendency  to  push  theories  to 
extremes,  or  to  overlook  the  modifications  in  a  theory,  suggested 
by  other  facts  and  theories.  Dr.  Wayland's  vision  was  telescopic, 
reaching  a  long  distance,  and  bringing  objects  near  which  to 
other  men  were  distant;  but  when  thus  near,  he  could  still  view 
them  only  in  the  isolation  in  which  a  telescopic  object  is  pre- 
sented, and  his  observations  were  left  unmodified  by  the  informa- 
tion given  by  other  objects  or  through  the  senses.  Dr.  Manly 
saw  not  so  piercingly ;  but  in  seeing,  he  looked  not  at  the  object 
alone,  but  all  its  surroundings,  and  received  the  instruction 
given  by  his  other  powers,  equally  exercised  for  the  attainment 
of  knowledge.  The  truth  is,  that  in  that  very  analytical  power 
by  which  Dr.  Wayland  would  disintegrate  a  subject  and  isolate 
its  parts,  —  a  power,  I  believe,  more  remarkable  in  him  than  in 
any  man  America  has  ever  produced,  —  in  that  very  power,  which 
thus  constituted  the  strength  of  Dr.  Wayland,  and  the  source  of 
his  reputation,  lurked  a  weakness  which  led  him  to  conclusions 
containing  erroneous  elements  which  men  of  less  acute  analysis, 
but  of  better  judgment,  could  better  perceive.  It  is  on  this 
account  that,  while  indicating  my  conviction  of  the  similarity- 
bet  ween  them  as  Presidents  of  Colleges,  I  yet  recognize  such 
great  differences  that  it  seems  unfit  to  compare  them  intellectually 
or  spiritually  with  each  other.  Those  with  whom  they  came  in 
contact  were  often  led  to  overlook  the  deep  spiritual  nature  of 
Dr.  Wayland,  while  recognizing  his  powers  of  intellect,  and  to 
fail  to  perceive  the  great  mental  powers  of  Dr.  Manly  while 
under  the  spell  of  his  deeply  spiritual  and  emotional  nature. 
Under  the  powerful  frame  and  massive  intellectuality  and  com- 
manding, oftentimes  stern,  aspect  of  Wayland,  there  was  the 
most  childlike  spirit  that  I  ever  knew  in  man,  the  most  sym- 
pathizing heart,  the  most  fatherly  affection.  Under  the  gentle 
and  quiet  and  unobtrusive  nature  of  Manly  there  was  a  mind  of 
wonderful  powers,  of  accurate  and  acute  thought,  capable  of  the 
exactest  statement,  attended  by  a  logical  enforcement  that  carried 
conviction  at  once  to  his  hearers;  yet,  withal,  this  was  so  gently 
done  that  the  effect  alone  was  apt  to  be  felt,  —  the  efficient 
causes  were  usually  overlooked. 


AT   GREENVILLE   AFTER  THE   WAR.  217 

"  In  these  respects  he  very  strongly  resembled  the  late  Dr. 
Archibald  Alexander,  of  Princeton.  Tliis  will  at  once  be  ad- 
mitted by  all  who  knew  them  both.  Their  bodily  f(.>rms  were 
not  unlike,  their  habits  of  life  very  similar.  Their  mode  of  inter- 
course with  others  was  marked  by  the  same  gentleness  and  kind- 
ness. Their  methods  of  preaching  were  quite  similar.  The 
reputation  in  this  respect  of  each  had  heen  achieved  in  early 
manhood,  and  that  of  the  one  was  remarkably  like  that  of  the 
other.  Each  of  them  was  more  loved  than  feared,  though  both 
were  deeply  reverenced.  The  judgment  of  each  was  submitted 
to  as  to  an  oracle.  But  similar  as  they  were  in  these  and  many 
other  respects,  it  was  not  until  their  mental  characteristics  had 
been  compared  —  their  ways  of  thinking,  the  simplicity  and 
accuracy  of  their  statements,  and  the  just  views  to  which  their 
correct  judgment  commonly  led  —  that  there  was  seen  that  remark- 
able resemblance  which  must  have  struck  every  observer  well 
acquainted  w^ith  them  both." 

In  the  ^'Baptist  Quarterly''  for  October,  1870,  Dr. 
Boj^ce  published  an  elaborate  and  quite  valuable  article 
on  ''The  Suffering  Christ,''  the  substance  of  which  was 
afterwards  given  in  his  "Abstract  of  Theology." 


218  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER   XIY. 

SERIES   OF   EFFORTS   TO    REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY. 

DUEI^G  the  first  years  after  the  war,  the  idea  neces- 
sarily occurred  to  various  persons  that  it  would  be 
better  to  remove  the  Seminary  to  some  other  State.  The 
State  feeling  has  always  been  so  strong  at  the  South  that 
no  general  institution  could  expect  to  obtain  adequate 
endowment  unless  a  large  portion  came  from  the  State  in 
which  it  was  located.  Accordingly,  at  the  original  estab- 
lishment of  the  Seminary,  as  we  have  seen,  the  South 
Carolina  Baptists  agreed  to  give  one  half  of  the  then  pro- 
posed endowment.  This  $100,000  had  been  fully  sub- 
scribed when  the  Seminary  went  into  operation.  But  much 
of  it  was  paid  in  Confederate  money,  and  invested  in  Con- 
federate bonds  or  other  securities  that  perished  with  the 
war.  The  Theological  department  of  Furman  University 
was  to  turn  over  nearl^^  $30,000  of  the  amount.  The  larger 
part  of  this  was  paid  in  Confederate  money,  and  the  noble 
University  was,  after  the  war,  struggling  for  its  existence, 
and  quite  unable  to  pay  over  the  remainder.  The  private 
bonds  of  planters  and  others  which  remained  unpaid  were 
for  the  most  part  worthless.  And  when  we  looked  to  the 
future,  it  was  simply  out  of  the  question  to  hope  that 
South  Carolina  could  furnish  half  of  the  larger  endowment 
that  would  now  be  necessary,  through  the  greatly  increased 
cost  of  living,  and  the  necessity  of  having  additional  pro- 
fessors. The  wealthy  Baptists  of  South  Carolina  had  been 
nearly  all  planters,  who  were  now  almost  uniformly  im- 
poverished. The  generous  and  noble  men  and  women  of 
the  State  contributed   ''.to  their  power,  yea,  and  beyond 


EFFORTS  TO  REMOVE   THP:   SEMINARY.         219 

their  power,''  for  the  annual  support  of  the  Seminary;  but 
large  endowments  have  to  come  chiefly  from  wealthy  people, 
and  of  these  there  were  then  practically  none.  (Of  course 
the  situation  has  considerably  improved  since  that  time.) 
Moreover,  Furman  University  must  soon  have  endowment, 
or  perish;  and  any  general  effort  to  obtain  South  Carolina 
endowment  for  the  Seminary  would  be  damaging,  if  not 
fatal,  to  the  University. 

Yet  during  the  first  years  the  idea  of  removal  was  never 
mentioned  without  prompt  rejection.  No  one  concerned 
wished  to  leave  South  Carolina  or  Greenville,  which,  both 
as  to  climate  and  community,  had  proven  itself  a  delight- 
ful place  of  residence,  even  beyond  the  opening  promise. 
And  the  people  of  South  Carolina  in  general,  though  often 
curiously  misunderstood  at  a  distance,  could  never  be 
thoroughly  known  by  any  person  of  elevated  principles 
and  tastes  without  being  held  in  high  admiration  and 
esteem.  So  we  struggled  on,  hoping  that  perhaps  sufficient 
endowment  might  come  from  other  States,  though  we 
knew  not  how.  Dr.  Boj'ce,  though  a  large-hearted  man, 
deeply  interested  in  the  whole  South  and  the  whole  coun- 
try, was  yet  warml}"-  attached  to  his  native  State  and  to 
the  many  friends  of  his  early  years,  and  surpassingly 
reluctant  to  take  away  from  Carolina  the  institution  to 
w^hich  he  had  devoted  his  life. 

The  first  known  attempt  to  effect  a  removal  of  the  Sem- 
inary came  in  April,  1869,  four  years  after  the  war.  The 
Trustees  of  Union  University,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn., 
invited  a  removal  of  the  Seminary  to  that  place,  and  prof- 
fered $50,000  towards  its  establishment  there.  The  Trus- 
tees of  the  Seminary,  at  Macon,iu  May,  respectfully  declined 
the  invitation.  They  said  that  funds  contributed  in  South 
Carolina  might  be  jeoparded  by  any  removal,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  original  agreement  that  in  case  of  removal 
from  the  State  all  such  funds  should  revert  to  Furman 
University.     They  state  also  that  ''  larger  sums  have  been 


220  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE, 

offered  for  the  location  of  the  Seminary  in  other  places." 
They  explain  that  the  only  serious  difficulty  as  to  continu- 
ing the  Seminary  at  Greenville  was  the  comparative  diffi- 
culty of  access,  as  it  could  be  reached  only  by  a  single 
railroad  from  Columbia;  and  that  this  difficulty  was  about 
to  be  removed,  as  a  railway  was  in  construction  which 
would  connect  Greenville  directly  with  Atlanta  on  one 
side,  and  on  the  other  with  Central  Xorth  Carolina  and 
Virginia.  Dr.  Jeter,  President  of  the  Board,  was  requested 
to  publish  an  article  in  the  '' Keligious  Herald,''  setting 
forth  reasons  for  not  removing  the  Seminary.  The  report 
thus  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  is  in  Dr.  Boyce's 
handwriting,  and  the  fact  is  mentioned  to  show  that  he 
was  zealous  to  prevent  removal. 

Xext  year,  May,  1870,  when  the  Trustees  met  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  at  Louisville,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  with  A.  M.  Poindexter  as  chair- 
man, to  devise  some  plan  for  raising  a  permanent  endow- 
ment, and  recommended  that  agents  be  appointed  to 
attempt  raising  from  8150,000  to  8200,000,  including  $50 
each  from  a  thousand  ladies.  The  existence  of  several 
notable  Baptist  ladies  in  Louisville,  able  and  accustomed 
to  give  generousl}^  must  have  suggested  this  last  rather 
fanciful  proposition.  Xo  definite  action  was  taken,  but 
all  concerned  were  evidently  anxious  to  maintain  the 
institution  at  Greenville   if  possible. 

In  February,  1871,  Dr.  Boyce  wrote  to  H.  A.  Tupper 
that  he  was  sending  out  another  circular,  adding,  ''  I  must 
have  this  money."  In  the  circular  he  appeals  to  jjastors 
to  take  up  a  special  collection,  and  saj^s :  *'  I  am  filled  with 
anxiety  that  the  Seminary  should  obtain  immediate  relief. 
...  As  to  the  final  success  of  the  Seminary,  I  have  no 
fears;  but  I  am  anxious  to  see  it  carried  through  these 
years  of  trial  and  poverty  at  the  South  without  being  too 
much  crippled."  He  was  perhaps  more  depressed  and 
anxious   because  about  that  time  he  began  to  have  occa- 


EFFORTS   TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  I'-l 

sional  attacks  of  rheumatic  gout,  iuherited  from  his  father, 
compelling  him  to  support  his  heavy  frame  on  crutches. 

In  April  of  this  year  some  friends  in  Kentucky'  requested 
Dr.  Boj'ce  to  engage  in  a  public  debate  at  Lexington  against 
a  Campbellite.  He  wrote  to  Rev.  George  Hunt:  *' What 
could  all  of  you  mean?  Why,  there  are  twent}^  men  in  Ken- 
tucky w  ho  could  outstrip  me  in  such  work  as  you  propose. 
You  yourself  would  do  tenfold  better.  We  folks  here 
[in  South  Carolina]  are  too  little  troubled  with  Campbel- 
lism  to  be  as  familiar  with  it  as  a  debater  should  be.  And 
then  I  am  slow  of  speech.  Xo,  no,  I  must  beg  off.  Ken- 
tucky Baptists  must  not  send  to  South  Carolina  to  get  a 
champion,  and  then  find  him  whipped." 

Some  time  in  1871  or  the  earl}^  part  of  1872  influential 
Trustees  of  Brown  University  asked  Dr.  Boyce's  permission 
to  nominate  him  for  President  of  the  University.  The 
idea  must  have  been  very  attractive  to  him,  and  he  would 
have  filled  the  position  with  distinguished  ability.  But 
lie  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  leave  the  South  and  the 
Seminary. 

In  May,  1871,  the  Board  met  again  with  the  Convention 
at  St.  Louis.  Notice  was  received  of  action  taken  the 
previous  summer  by  the  Trustees  of  Furman  L'niversity, 
and  by  the  State  Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomination 
in  South  Carolina,  proposing  on  their  part  to  release  the 
Seminary  from  all  claims  that  contributions  to  it  shall 
revert  to  Furman  University  in  case  of  the  Seminary's 
removal  from  the  State,  on  condition  that  the  Seminary 
upon  its  part  will  release  Furman  University-  and  the  State 
Convention  from  all  claims  for  amounts  due  on  account  of 
the  Theological  department,  etc.  This  was  accompanied  by 
a  note  from  President  James  C.  Furman  that  the  Trustees 
of  Furman  University  would  deplore  the  removal  of  the 
Seminary  to  another  site,  and  only  desired  to  relieve  the 
University  from  liabilities.  The  Trustees  of  the  Seminary 
acceded  to  the  proposed  agreement,  and  further  resolved 


222  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  F.   BOYCE. 

that  the  Seminary  shall  be  removed,  if  thereby  ''endow- 
ment can  be  obtained  of  sufficient  amount  to  secure  the 
permanency  of  the  institution."  The  Executive  Commit- 
tee was  directed  to  make  public  this  willingness  to  remove, 
and  invite  proposals;  but  they  must  state  that  the  Board 
will  not  be  governed  solely  by  the  amount  pledged  from 
one  or  another  localit}'". 

In  March,  1872,  Dr.  Boyce  personally  visited  Chatta- 
nooga and  Memphis,  inquiring  as  to  the  possibility  of 
removal  to  one  of  those  places.  At  Chattanooga  his 
father's  estate,  still  in  his  hands  as  executor,  had  large 
and  promising  investments.  He  himself  confidently'-  be- 
lieved that  sooner  or  later  Chattanooga  would  become  a 
great  city,  as  now  seems  increasingly  probable.  It  was 
also  quite  central  for  the  Southern  States.  He  would 
have  been  personally  much  gratified  to  see  the  Seminary 
removed  to  that  place,  and  wrote  to  persuade  his  father's 
heirs  that  it  would  be  wise  for  the  estate  to  subscribe 
handsomely  towards  the  endowment,  in  case  of  removal, 
since  he  could  then  give  constant  personal  attention  to  the 
development  of  their  property.  Yet  he  was  not  the  man 
to  be  affected  by  personal  interest,  if  something  better 
could  be  done  elsewhere  for  the  general  good.  He  had- 
suffered  a  very  heavy  loss  early  in  1871  by  the  failure  of  a 
business  house  in  Charleston  in  which  he  was  a  partner, 
but  he  went  straight  on  with  his  Seminary  work. 

In  1872  the  Trustees  met  with  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  at  Ealeigh,  N.  C.  It  appeared  that  proposi- 
tions for  removal  had  been  made  by  friends  of  the  Seminary 
in  various  cities.  The  eloquent  Dr.  T.  G.  Jones  spoke 
strongly  for  Nashville.  President  N.  K.  Davis  brought  a 
carefully  elaborated -and  very  generous  proposition  for  re- 
moval to  Eussellville,  l^j.,  and  incorporation  with  Bethel 
College,  of  that  place,  into  ''The  Southern  Baptist  Uni- 
versity." Informal  but  earnest  propositions  were  brought 
for  removal  to  Chattanooga,   to  Memi)his,  to  Atlanta,  to 


EFFORTS   TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.         223 

Louisville.  The  Board  resolved  that  it  was  expedient  to 
remove,  but  that  it  was  proper  to  avoid  all  complications 
with  existing  or  proposed  institutions  of  learning,  and 
that  this  would  restrict  them  (among  the  j^laces  to  which 
the  Seminary  had  been  invited)  to  Louisville,  Nashville, 
Chattanooga,  or  Atlanta.  The}-  further  resolved  that  at 
least  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  ought  to  be  secured 
in  the  cit}^  and  State  where  the  Seminary  should  be  placed, 
with  the  expectation  that  two  hundred  thousand  more 
would  be  raised  elsewhere.  They  appointed  a  committee 
of  seven  to  visit  proposed  places,  examine  proposed  sites, 
etc.,  and  inquire  into  the  amount  and  validity  of  the 
subscriptions.  Whenever  these  matters  should  be  satis- 
factorily arranged  by  the  Committee  of  Visitation,  and  the 
necessary  legal  measures  should  have  been  adopted,  the 
Executive  Committee  was  authorized  to  effect  a  removal. 
This  important  removal  committee  consisted  of  J.  B.  Jeter, 
T.  H.  Pritchard,  S.  L.  Helm,  T.  P.  Smith,  S.  Henderson, 
M.  Hillsman,  Joseph  E.  Brown;  and  Dr.  Boyce  was  re- 
quested by  the  Board  to  accompany  the  committee  in 
visiting  various  cities. 

Nearly  all  of  this  committee,  with  Dr.  Boyce,  shortly 
after  visited  the  several  cities  suggested,  and  reached  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  best  to  remove  to  Louisville,  so 
soon  as  the  requisite  amount  for  endowment  should  be 
subscribed  in  the  city  and  the  State.  Louisville  was 
much  the  largest  of  the  cities  proposed,  and  while  b}^  no 
means  geographically  central  to  the  Southern  States,  it 
was  already  evident  that  railroads  would  ultimately  make 
it  easily  accessible  from  all  parts  of  the  South.  There 
w^ere  several  strong  Baptist  churches  in  the  city,  and 
w^ealthy  Baptist  members;  and  it  was  believed  that  when 
there  should  be  opportunity  for  full  explanation  of  what 
the  Seminary  could  do,  not  only  for  the  cause  at  large, 
but  for  the  city  of  its  location  in  particular,  these  intelli- 
gent and  generous  Baptists  would  quite  generally  become 


224  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

its  friends,  as  some  of  them  were  from  the  beginning.  It 
was  supposed  that  not  more  than  a  year  or  two  wouhl  be 
required  to  obtain  the  proposed  subscription  in  Louisville 
and  Kentucky,  no  one  foreseeing  the  great  financial  crisis 
of  the  following  year. 

Meantime  important  changes  had  to  be  made  in  the 
faculty.  When  Professor  Manly  left,  in  1871,  it  was  too 
late  for  any  appointment  to  be  made  by  the  Board.  Pro- 
fessor Toy  could  take  Biblical  Introduction.  Dr.  'Boyce 
readil}^  resumed  Polemics,  which  he  had  previously  taught. 
He  urged  Dr.  Williams  to  take  the  School  of  Homiletics, 
promising  that  if  it  should  prove  agreeable  to  him,  a  new 
professor  should  be  found  the  next  year  for  Church  History, 
—  a  subject  which  Williams  had  never  particularly  liked, 
though  he  did  all  his  work  faithfully  and  ably.  Dr.  Boyce 
was  persuaded,  and  the  other  professors,  that  Dr.  Williams 
would  teach  Homiletics  with  signal  ability,  as  he  was  a 
very  able  preacher,  whose  sermons  were  always  carefully 
constructed,  his  style  a  model  of  terseness  and  lucidity, 
and  his  deliver}^  forcible,  and  often  intensely  earnest.  Dr. 
Williams  protested  —  and  the  matter  is  recorded  simply 
because  of  a  valuable  distinction  —  that  whatever  he  might 
be  able  to  do  as  a  preacher,  he  was  wholly  unsuited  for 
teaching  other  men  how  to  preach.  He  said:  ^'If  a  man 
brings  me  a  bad  sermon,  I  can  sit  down  and  write  him  a 
better  one;  but  I  can't  tell  him  how  to  make  his  sermon 
better.  I  can't  make  my  mind  work  in  other  men's  lines." 
He  said  he  was  quite  willing  to  do  anything  he  could  do, 
but  would  utterly  refuse  to  attempt  what  he  knew  he  could 
not  do.  Boyce  urged  his  plan  with  growing  vehemence, 
until  Williams  rejected  it  with  decided  heat;  ''and  the 
contention  was  sharp  between  them."  This  was  the  only 
time  in  all  the  Seminary's  history  that  there  ever  arose 
the  slightest  unpleasantness  between  professors;  and 
this  was  gone  next  day.  Dr.  Boyce  quietly  said  that  he 
would  take  the  School  of  Homiletics  himself.     The  pro- 


EFFORTS   TO    REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  1^25 

fessor  who  had  been  relieved  of  it  two  years  before  was 
ready  to  undertake  the  subject  again,  but  Boyce  earnestly 
objected.  He  said  he  had  good  health,  and  although  he 
had  neither  taste  nor  training  for  correcting  exercises,  he 
would  do  his  best,  and  would  not  allow  one  whose  health 
was  still  uncertain  to  resume  the  burden.  So  Dr.  Boyce 
himself  taught  Homiletics  that  session,  as  he  had  taught 
New  Testament  the  previous  session. 

The  next  year,  j\Iay,  1872,  Eev.  William  Heth  Whitsitt 
was  elected  Professor  of  Biblical  Introduction  and  Polemic 
Theology,  and  Assistant-Professor  of  New  Testament  Greek, 
this  aid  rendering  it  possible  for  Professor  Broadus  to 
resume  the  School  of  Homiletics.  Professor  Whitsitt  was 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  a  graduate  of  Union  Universit3^ 
He  served  in  the  ami}-  all  through  the  war,  first  as  a 
private,  but  presently  as  chaplain,  in  Forrest's  celebrated 
cavalry  command.  After  the  war  he  spent  a  j^ear  at  the 
University  of  Virginia,  and  from  1867  two  years  in  our 
Seminary,  after  which  he  devoted  more  than  two  years 
(1869-1871)  to  study  in  Leipsic  and  Berlin.  After  a 
pastorate  of  some  months  in  Albany,  Ga.,  he  accepted  the 
post  of  Professor  in  the  Seminary.  His  inaugural  address, 
Sept.  2,  1872,  discussed  the  ''Position  of  the  Baptists  in  the 
History  of  American  Culture. "  This  address  was  published 
in  the  ''Baptist  Quarterly"  and  in  pamphlet  form,  and  a 
second  edition  of  it  in  1874.  He  states  with  great  force  the 
ideas  and  practices  upon  which  Baptists  have  laid  special 
emphasis,  thereby  contributing  no  little  to  whatever  is  best 
in  American  thought  and  life.  He  glories  in  the  fact 
"that  although  the  Baptists  are  one  of  the  foremost 
denominations  in  the  United  States,  their  direct  and 
palpable  influence  upon  our  political  destinies  —  in  con- 
trolling public  elections,  exciting  agitation,  or  manipulat- 
ing the  legislative,  judicial,  or  executive  authorities  —  is 
quite  inappreciable  and  insignificant.  There  is  nothiug 
that  furnishes  to  our  own  people,  and  to  all  the  friends  of 

15 


226  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

religion,  a  jnster  ground  of  pride  and  thankfulness."     His 
concluding  exhortation  is  very  wholesome:  — 

"The  people  with  whom  your  lot  is  cast,  my  brethren,  have 
emancipated  the  intellect,  and  have  opened  the  Bible  to  all. 
You  will  be  called  to  move  among  men  of  active,  independent 
minds.  Your  principal  claim  to  their  respect,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, your  best  prospects  for  usefulness,  will  depend  upon  your 
intellectual  and  moral  endowments  and  culture.  They  recognize 
the  vahdity  of  no  sacniraental  theories  :  you  will  therefore  be 
surrounded  by  no  halo  of  priestly  sanctity.  Hence  it  is  impera- 
tively necessary  that  you  should  employ  diligence  in  arming 
yourself  thoroughly  for  the  duties  before  you.  Eemember,  too, 
that  the  pulpits  of  a  people  professing  these  levelling,  humani- 
tarian principles,  these  earnest  Gospel  truths,  are  no  fit  theatre  for 
over-cultivated,  weak-thoughted,  intellectual  exquisites,  doling 
out  diluted  and  harmless  treatises  on  philosophy  or  aesthetics. 
Men  of  robust  spirit  are  in  demand,  who,  like  our  blessed  Master, 
keep  in  sympathy  with  the  common  people,  and  are  gladly  heard 
by  them ;  who  in  connection  with  apostolic  ruggedness  and  vigor 
cultivate  also  apostolic  gentleness  and  simplicity." 

That  same  year,  1872,  Dr.  Boyce  made  a  remarkable 
sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  the  Seminary.  A  good  deal  of 
objection  had  been  made  in  some  quarters  to  certain  teach- 
ings of  Dr.  Williams  in  the  class  of  Church  Government, 
particularly  to  his  teaching  that  persons  who  have  been 
immersed  by  Pedobaptists  or  Campbellites  may  be  properly 
received  into  a  Baptist  church  without  being  baptized  by 
a  Baptist  minister.  Some  newspaper  articles  had  severely 
assailed  Dr.  Williams  for  those  views,  and  the  Seminary 
on  that  account.  Dr.  Boyce  greatly  desired  that  the 
Seminary  should  attract  to  its  privileges  all  sorts  of  Bap- 
tists, from  every  part  of  the  Southern  countr}',  and  should 
not  be  looked  upon  as  representing  one  party  among  us  in 
opposition  to  some  other  party.  He  knew  that  his  own 
views  of  Church  Government  would  be  less  objectionable 
than  those  of  Dr.  Williams  in  the  quarters  indicated.    He 


EFFORTS   TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  227 

also  knew  that  Williams  would  always  have  preferred  to 
teach  Systematic  Theology  ratlier  tliau  Church  History,  as 
the  former  greatly  better  suited  his  mental  constitution 
and  general  culture.  It  would  be  a  great  sacrifice  for 
Boyce  to  cease  teaching  Theology,  in  which  he  had  always 
delighted,  and  had  now  enjoyed  a  dozen  years  of  experience, 
and  to  turn  his  attention  to  Church  History,  — a  subject 
so  vast,  and  demanding  boundless  reading.  And  warnings 
had  begun  that  his  health  was  no  longer  perfect.  But  he 
thought  the  matter  over,  and  decided  to  offer  Williams  an 
exchange  of  subjects,  with  the  understanding  that  while 
Boyce  should  have  to  be  absent  on  agency  work  in  gather- 
ing the  endowment  and  effecting  the  proposed  removal, 
Williams  would  also  continue  to  teach  his  former  subject. 
This  seemed  a  very  wise  arrangement  to  make  Dr.  Boyce 
foot-loose  for  the  present,  and  have  the  work  in  both  de- 
partments ably  done.  Dr.  Williams  entered  with  great 
delight  upon  his  favorite  subject,  to  which  he  had  given 
his  chief  attention  when  professor  in  the  Theological  De- 
partment of  Mercer  Universit3^  He  had  extraordinary 
power  of  terse,  comprehensive,  and  clear  statement  of  truth. 
After  two  or  three  years  of  experience,  his  lectures  in 
Systematic  Theology  must  have  been  of  an  excellence 
rarely  equalled,  for  their  exact  definitions,  their  closely 
concatenated  arguments,  and  their  profound  spiritual  sym- 
pathy; they  were  highly  valued  by  the  students.  But 
the  unanticipated  delay  which  kept  Dr.  Boyce  away  for 
several  j^ears  after,  caused  Dr.  Williams  to  wear  himself 
out,  as  we  shall  sadly  see,  under  the  burden  of  two  great 
departments  of  teaching.  None  the  less  was  Dr.  Boyce 
making  at  the  time  a  great  personal  sacrifice,  in  relin- 
quishing the  subject  which  he  greatly  preferred  and  in 
which  he  had  already  a  rich  experience,  and  promising 
to  turn,  when  he  could  resume  teaching,  to  entirely  new 
work,  all  for  the  Seminary's  sake.  Only  a  teacher,  and 
one  who  has  reached  the  age  of  forty-five,   as  Dr.  Boyce 


228  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

had  now  done,  can  fully  understand  what  a  sacrifice  was 
here  made. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
May,  1872,  Dr.  Boyce  was  elected  President  of  that  body. 
He  was  re-elected  annually  till  1879,  and  again  in  1888. 
His  predecessor.  Dr.  P.  H.  Mell,  of  Georgia,  was  univer- 
sally considered  an  unrivalled  presiding  officer.  People 
soon  began  to  say  that  Dr.  Boyce  presided  better  than  an}^ 
one  they  had  ever  seen,  except  Dr.  Mell,  and  some  went 
further  still.  To  preside  well  over  a  big  Baptist  Conven- 
tion is  no  ordinary  task;  the  Speaker  in  the  National 
House  of  Kepresentatives,  or  the  president  of  a  National 
Nominating  Convention,  has  scarcely  greater  difficulties 
to  overcome.  Every  Baptist  of  them  all  feels  himself  per= 
fectly  free,  and  wishes  to  be  personalty  uncontrolled,  and 
yet  all  desire  that  the  president  shall  maintain  perfect 
order.  In  appointing  committees,  due  regard  must  be 
paid  to  the  different  sides  of  a  question,  and  to  the  States 
from  which  men  come.  In  deciding  points  of  order,  the 
president  must  be  prompt  and  positive.  Dr.  Mell  used  to 
say  that  it  is  better  for  a  presiding  officer  to  err  sometimes 
than  ever  to  hesitate.  Dr.  Kerfoot  has  quaintly  put  this 
by  reversing  a  celebrated  phrase:  ^^It  is  better  to  be  presi- 
dent than  to  be  right."  Dr.  Boyce  seemed  never  wanting 
in  mastery  of  the  whole  situation,  nor  in  perfect  courtesy 
and  fairness  to  all,  while  it  would  be  hard  to  find  his  equal 
in  the  glowing  cordiality  and  vivid  sympathy  with  which 
every  speaker  was  recognized.  It  must  have  often  caused 
the  man  to  feel  more  hopeful  of  making  a  good  speech.^ 
Some  years  later,  when  Dr.  Boyce  began  to  teach  Church 

1  Dr.  Folk,  of  the  "Baptist  "Reflector,"  stated,  after  Boyce's  death, 
that  during  the  Convention  at  Nashville  in  1878  a  distinguished  gentle- 
man, already  familiar  with  deliberative  bodies,  and  afterwards  a  United 
States  Senator,  was  very  much  struck  with  the  ability  of  Dr.  Boyce  as 
a  presiding  officer,  and  expressed  his  admiration  openly,  though  not  a 
Baptist,  nor  personally  acquainted. 


EFFORTS   TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  220 

Government  and  Pastoral  Duties,  he  accepted  the  sugges- 
tion that  it  was  desirable  to  give  regular  lessons  in  Parlia- 
mentary proceedings,  as  time  is  often  lost  in  churches, 
associations  and  conventions  from  lack  of  thorougli  ac- 
quaintance with  this  matter.  He  introduced  Dr.  Mell's 
*' Parliamentary  Practice  ''  as  a  text-book,  and  made  tlie 
course  of  instruction  quite  a  feature  of  the  Seminary's 
work,  which  is  kept  up  with  marked  ability  by  his  succes- 
sor. Dr.  Kerfoot. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1872,  Dr.  Boyce  had  a  notable 
experience  in  attending  a  meeting  of  the  American  Bap- 
tist Educational  Commission  at  Philadelphia.  In  the 
course  of  an  earnest  discussion  as  to  the  propriety  of  con- 
tinuing the  meetings  of  the  convention  of  educators  thus 
designated,  a  vigorous  and  distinguished  brother  from  New 
York  made  some  sort  of  personal  issue  against  Dr.  Bo\'ce, 
the  precise  nature  of  which  is  not  remembered.  In  reply, 
Boyce  stated  his  position,  and  then  said  he  appealed  to  the 
audience  as  to  whether  he  had  not  stated  it  fairly.  The 
response  was  in  overwhelming  applause,  amounting  to 
quite  a  discomfiture  for  the  assailant.  At  a  jmblic  break- 
fast given  the  next  morning  at  Fairmount  by  Pliiladelphia 
brethren.  Dr.  Boj^ce  was  asked  to  speak,  and  in  the  course 
of  his  remarks  came  round  to  the  subject  of  Christian 
friendship  and  brotherly  regard.  He  presently  said  that 
sometimes  in  the  heat  of  discussion  one  may  seem  to  bear 
hard  on  a  brother,  but  that  a  Christian  man  will  be  sure  to 
regret  this,  and  wish  to  restore  cordial  relations.  Then, 
advancing  towards  the  brother  encountered  the  day  before, 
and  dropping  the  crutches  which  through  an  attack  of  gout 
he  was  carrying,  Boyce  threw  his  arms  around  him,  with 
a  look  full  of  warm-liearted  sincerity,  and  altogetlier  in  a 
manner  that  called  forth  the  greatest  applause,  and  made 
a  lasting  impression. 

When  it  had  been  decided  that  summer,  as  above  nar- 
rated, that  the  Seminary  would  be  removed  to  Louisville 


230  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

so  soon  as  the  necessary  subscription  for  endowment  should 
be  secured  in  the  city  and  State,  Dr.  Boyce  concluded  to 
take  up  his  own  abode  in  Louisville  and  devote  himself  to 
that  task.  In  October,  1872,  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Burckmyer,  that  he  and  his  family  had  just  reached 
Louisville,  and  adds:  ''There  is  a  great  deal  of  opposi- 
tion, from  lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  matter;  but  this 
will  all  be  overcome  as  I  am  able  to  set  forth  the  merits 
of  the  case.''  A  month  later,  he  writes  to  Dr.  Heman 
Lincoln:  ''I  have  too  hard  a  work  here  to  be  sanguine  of 
success.  I  have  had  some  large  subscriptions,  —  one  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars ;  but  all  this  will  not  suffice  un- 
less many  others  help."  After  spending  nearly  twelve 
months  at  the  Louisville  Hotel,  Dr.  Boyce  lived  several 
years  at  117  West  Broadway,  afterwards  at  742  Fourth 
Avenue,  and  finally  at  102  West  Chesnut. 

It  was  of  course  a  deeply  painful  thing  to  leave  his 
native  State.  His  feelings  are  expressed  in  a  letter  of 
October  22  to  Kev.  J.  0.  B.  Dargan,  D.  D.,  of  Darlington, 
S.  C,  father  of  the  present  professor  in  the  Seminary. 

''Your  very  kind  letter  of  October  17  has  just  been  received. 
I  thank  you  for  its  expressions  of  fraternal  love,  which  are 
ardently  reciprocated.  I  wish  I  could  be  at  the  convention  at 
Darlington,  but  duty  forbids  me.  I  must  work  hard  here  to 
accomplish  my  task.  One  of  my  colleagues  has  promised  to 
attend  the  convention  and  represent  the  Seminary.  In  coming 
here  I  am  not  separated  from  my  native  State,  I  come  here  to  do 
her  work,  as  well  as  that  of  the  others.  I  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  still  fond  of  her,  and  still  anxious  for  all  her  interests.  My 
heart  will  go  back  constantly,  especially  to  the  dear  brethren 
with  whom  I  have  labored  and  toiled  and  sacrificed  and  con- 
sulted. Noble  band  of  brothers,  when  shall  I  find  their  like? 
I  say  nothing  in  disparagement  of  the  brethren  here  when  I  say 
that  my  heart  can  find  no  such  sympathy  or  resting-place  as  I 
have  found  in  my  dear  Carolina.  It  has  been  no  ordinary  strug- 
gle to  leave  the  State  and  my  mountain  home,  especially  when  I 
leave  her  in  so  sorrowful  a  plight.     No  temptation  heretofore,  in 


EFFORTS  TO  REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.         231 

several  brilliaut  ofTcrs  I  have  liad,  lias  sufficed.  But  the  Seminary 
is  my  child.  I  prize  it  perhaps  too  highly  ;  yet  have  I  ever 
striven  to  hold  it  in  due  proportion  to  other  causes  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  For  it  I  am  now  undergoing  more  than  I  can 
tell,  and  as  yet  my  future  is  uncertain.  My  dear  brother,  ])ray 
for  me,  and  for  the  Seminary's  success,  that  it  may  prove  a 
blessing,  and  for  the  poor  sinner  whom  God  permits,  tliougli  so 
unworthy,  to  labor  with  him.     God  bless  you  and  all  yours." 

On  Jan.  4,  1873,  he  wrote  from  Louisville  to  a  gifted 
friend  in  South  Carolina,  Hon.  William  Henry  Trescot, 
who  has  long  held  important  positions  in  the  State  De- 
partment at  Washington  and  in  the  public  service  abroad, 
and  who  had  frequently  been  Boyce's  guest  at  Greenville. 
The  letter  abounds  in  expressions  of  cordial  regard  for 
him  and  other  friends  in  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Trescot 
was  at  the  time  seeking  some  office  to  which  the  Legis- 
lature must  elect,  and  Boyce  refers  to  the  matter  in  terms 
that  are  suggestive:  — 

"  If  I  can  further  your  election  in  any  way,  write.  But  as  I 
have  no  former  servant  in  the  Legislature,  no  influence  with  the 
whites,  and  feel  in  conscience  bound  not  to  bribe,  even  if  I  had 
the  money,  you  must  point  out  the  way  of  successful  operation." 

On  the  same  day  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  venerable  and  hon- 
ored lady  who  had  long  been  his  near  neighbor  and  friend 
in  Greenville.  Mrs.  Butler  was  the  sister  of  Commodore 
Oliver  Hazard  Perry;  her  husband,  Dr.  Butler,  deceased 
some  years  before,, was  the  brother  of  Senator  A.  P.  Butler, 
upon  whose  death  Dr.  Boyce  preached  a  sermon,  as  hereto- 
fore mentioned;  her  son  is  General  M.  C.  Butler,  of  Confed- 
erate cavalry  fame,  and  who  has  long  been  United  States 
Senator  from  South  Carolina.  She  was  a  notable  figure 
in  Greenville  society,  held  in  great  respect  by  everybody, 
and,  as  the  letter  shows,  in  high  esteem  by  those  who 
knew  her  well.  She  had  recently  gone  to  visit  her 
son   the  General   at    Columbia,   and  had   written    to    the 


232  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Boyces,  complaining  that  she  had  not  heard  from  them. 
After  referring  to  these  circumstances,  Dr.  Boyce's  letter 
proceeds : — 

''  Forget  yoa  !  —  I  never  could  do  that ;  how  could  I?  I  have 
never  had  a  hetter  friend,  nor  any  outside  of  my  relatives  wlio 
seemed  to  care  as  nuich  for  me  as  you,  and  1  assure  you  I  have 
appreciated  it.  For  such  small  favors  as  I  have  been  able  to 
show  you,  —  after  all,  mere  neighborly  acts,  —  you  have  seemed 
more  grateful  than  I  felt  was  due :  so  much  so  as  to  lead  me 
often  to  feel  ashamed  that  I  could  do  and  had  done  so  little.  Nor 
can  I  ever  forget  the  great  kindness  you  have  always  shown  to 
my  family.  Yet,  after  all,  let  me  tell  you  what,  amid  the  excel- 
lences of  a  character  which  has  been  the  wonder  and  admiration 
of  your  many  friends,  has  always  been  to  me  your  most  beautiful 
trait.  Not  that  maternal  devotion  which  you  have  exemplified 
to  all,  but  the  depths  of  which  in  my  private  talks  with  you  I 
have  had  the  privilege  to  know  as  few  but  your  children  know  it ; 
not  that  wonderful  force  of  character  which  has  carried  you,  with 
God's  help,  through  so  much  tribulation  and  strugglings  with  the 
world,  and  which  perhaps  is  the  trait  most  appreciated  by  your 
friends  in  general,  —  but  that  self-sacrificing  spirit  which  has 
never  sent  the  poor  away  unaided,  even  from  an  empty  larder 
and  a  stock  of  clothing  really  needed  for  yourself.  I  have  seen 
this  in  so  many  ways  displayed,  putting  the  blush  upon  myself 
and  all  those  around  you,  that  I  have  learned  to  love  you  even 
more  for  what  you  are  not  to  me  than  for  what  you  are. 

''  You  will  laugh,  and  say  I  am  flattering  you.  Well,  I  might 
feel  like  flattering  if  I  were  not  talking  about  serious  things,  and 
might  claim  my  right  as  a  man  to  do  so  with  a  woman.  But  it- 
is  not  so  now.  I  am  telling  you,  however,  truths  upon  paper 
which  I  could  not  tell  you  to  your  face.  I  am  not  very  demon- 
strative, although  by  no  means  cold  or  altogether  lacking  ;  still, 
I  hide  much  of  my  feeling  of  affection  within  myself.  Why 
should  I  not,  however,  .say  these  things  to  one  who  cannot  be 
injured  by  them,  and  who  will  appreciate,  I  know,  even  the 
love  which  in  her  modesty  she  disclaims,  and  denies  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  character  I  have  drawn  ? 

"  In  your  letter  to  my  wife  you  say  that  you  are  seventy  years 


EFFORTS  TO   KE.MOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  233 

old.  God  has  truly  blessed  you  with  a  long  life  :  may  he  add  to 
it  still  many  other  years  !  Yet,  after  all,  our  living  here  is  not  the 
best.  It  is  the  life  to  come  to  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  lo<tk, 
and  for  which  God  helps  us  to  long.  I  trust  that  he  has  put  this 
spirit  in  your  heart.  In  our  weariness  and  distress,  it  is  easy  to 
say,  '  0  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove ;  then  would  I  lly  away  and 
be  at  rest.'  But  it  is  our  privilege  to  feel  the  same  even  in  our 
joys.  If  God's  presence  be  sweet  to  us,  and  we  enjoy  the  bless- 
.ing  of  constant  communion  with  him,  then  are  our  licarts 
gladdened  with  the  hope  of  his  appearing.  Even  amid  our  joys 
we  can  say,  '  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly.'  God  has  deeply 
afflicted  you,  and  I  know  your  heart  has  been  often  uttering  this 
prayer,  —  I  trust  not  only  in  the  hour  of  sadness,  but  in  the  quiet 
moment  of  contemplation.  That  God  should  be  our  God  is  a 
great  and  glorious  truth.  How  fearful  the  description  of  the 
unbelieving,  '  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world ' ! 
How  delightful  is  that  twenty-third  Psalm,  read  especially  in  con- 
nection with  the  passages  in  the  New  Testament  where  Christ 
speaks  of  himself  as  the  Shepherd.  How  especially  comforting  in 
our  depressions  of  spirit,  and  when  \w  feel  that  God  has  deserted 
us  or  forsaken  us,  to  look  at  David  in  the  case  as  recorded  in  the 
23d  and  24th  chapters  of  I.  Samuel,  and  then  turn  to  the  142d 
Psalm,  —  which  David  calls  Maschil,  a  mystery,  —and  read  his 
experience.  Especially  look  at  the  third  verse,  '  When  my  spirit 
was  overwhelmed  within  me,  then  thou  knewest  my  path.'  And 
then  our  hearts  may  say  as  he  does  at  the  close,  '  Bring  my  soul 
out  of  prison,  that  I  may  praise  thy  name.' 

''  Have  you  yet  been  able  to  say  heartily,  '  Thy  will  be  done,' 
in  all  your  afflictions  ?  I  know  that  you  have  prayed  this,  and 
kept  on  uttering  the  prayer,  and  I  have  prayed  God  to  help  you 
to  continue  to  do  so,  hard  as  it  was  to  persevere  in  the  darkness 
that  surrounded  you.  And  I  have  felt  sure  that  if  yon  continued, 
your  God  would  give  strength,  and  enable  you  to  feel  that  he  is 
right  in  all  things  ;  and  not  only  right,  but  merciful  and  wise. 

'^  How  many  evils  have  taken  place  in  our  State,  and  especially 
in  Greenville,  since  I  left !  ...  I  do  not  know  whether  I  should 
tell  you  that  I  hope  to  be  in  South  Carolina  some  time  about 
February  1st,  and  may  have  a  chance  of  seeing  you.  I  shall  do 
so  if  I  can,  even  if  I  have  to  stop  especially  for  that  purpose." 


234  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

After  a  brief  visit  to  South  Carolina,  as  indicated,  he 
was  hastily  summoned  to  Washington,  Ga.,  by  the  death 
of  his  wife's  honored  mother.  E-eturning  to  Louisville,  his 
energies  were  again  earnestly  devoted  to  the  sufficiently 
difficult  task  before  him.  Some  of  the  leading  Baj^tists  of 
Louisville  took  hold  at  once  of  his  enterprise,  giving  gen- 
erous subscriptions  and  all  their  moral  influence.  But 
several  eminent  and  honored  men  decidedly  opposed  the 
movement,  believing  that  it  was  not  best  for  the  Baptist 
cause  in  Louisville  and  Kentucky.  Some  said  that  while  a 
university  would  be  of  great  service  to  the  city,  in  educat- 
ing its  young  men,  a  theological  school  would  do  no  local 
service,  as  its  students  would  almost  all  come  from  a  dis- 
tance and  return.  Some  contended  that  it  was  not  best  for 
the  general  usefulness  of  the  Southern  Seminary  to  place  it 
on  the  border  of  the  Southern  country.  But  the  main 
objection  was  from  the  idea  that  it  would  turn  away 
denominational  attention  and  support  from  the  two  Ken- 
tuckj'^  Baptist  Colleges, —  Georgetown  College,  and  Bethel 
College  at  E-ussellville.  Each  of  these  had  a  theological 
department,  which  would  probably  be  practically  aban- 
doned if  a  theological  seminary  were  established  in  the 
State.  Brethren  who  had  never  seen  a  Baptist  college 
working  without  a  theological  department,  supposed  that 
to  give  up  this  theological  instruction  would  be  to  turn 
away  from  the  college  pretty  much  all  the  students  who 
were  preparing  for  the  ministry.  That  would  greatly 
weaken  the  interest  of  the  churches  in  the  college,  and 
would  take  away  from  the  other  students  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  those  who  were  preparing  for  the  ministry. 
With  such  views  and  expectations,  they  very  naturally 
objected.  Others,  not  entering  so  far  into  probable  results, 
simply  thought  that  to  interest  the  denomination  of  the 
State  in  a  new  institution  at  Louisville  would  prevent 
their  contributing  to  the  colleges,  both  of  which  needed 
increased  endowment.     There  were  also  in  Louisville  a  few 


EFFORTS  TO  REMOVE  THE  SEMINARY.    235 

honored  brethren  who  had  their  doubts  about  the  propriety 
of  putting  young  men  through  a  theological  course.  They 
believed  in  sending  them  to  college,  but  held  that  then, 
with  their  minds  well  trained,  they  could  best  learn  the- 
ology from  the  Bible  and  through  talking  with  the  old 
ministers  while  engaged  in  actual  preaching.  Sucli  oppo- 
sition from  a  number  of  leading  brethren,  honored  for 
their  intelligence  and  liberality  in  other  things,  was  of 
course  sufficient  to  prevent  a  great  many  from  contributing. 
It  is  comparatively  easy  to  hinder  giving;  a  mere  pebble 
may  stop  a  wheel  that  is  going  up  hill.  Even  outside  of 
Louisville,  certain  prominent  friends  of  the  two  colleges, 
at  their  respective  locations  or  elsewhere,  wrote  letters  or 
made  visits  to  Louisville,  decidedly  opposing  the  project. 
Some  of  these  were  men  of  high  character  and  intelligence, 
acting  upon  convictions  which  only  a  wider  experience 
than  they  had  enjoyed  of  such  matters  could  correct.  Dr. 
Boyce  very  soon  began  to  perceive,  as  extracts  from  the 
letters  above  given  show,  that  his  task  was  hard. 

After  some  weeks,  in  consultation  with  friends,  he  got 
up  a  public  meeting  of  citizens  of  Louisville,  at  the  lec- 
ture hall  of  the  Public  Library,  now  the  Polytechnic 
Society.  It  was  pretty  well  attended.  The  president 
was  the  venerable  Judge  Bullock,  a  devout  Episcopalian. 
One  of  the  addresses  was  by  Kev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D., 
an  eminent  and  justly  beloved  Presbyterian  pastor,  who 
had  formerly  been  professor  at  Centre  College,  Danville, 
Ky.  Dr.  Humphrey  spoke,  with  characteristic  superiority 
to  all  denominational  narrowness,  in  favor  of  bringing  to 
Louisville  an  institution  that  would  greatly  promote  the 
cause  of  religion  in  the  city;  and  he  ended  by  giving  a 
generous  contribution  himself.  In  regard  to  this  oc- 
casion Mr.  Theodore  Harris,  the  celebrated  Louisville 
banker,  who  became  a  very  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Boyce, 
and  who  is  a  man  of  fine  literary  taste,  as  his  own 
writings  show,  has  said  that  Dr.  Boyce's  address  struck 


236  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  T.   BOYCE. 

him  very  much,  not  ouly  by  its  practical  wisdom  aud 
strength,  but  by  the  elevation  and  finish  of  the  style,  — 
quite  superior  to  his  sermons.  Mr.  Harris  thought  the 
address  must  have  been  very  carefully  composed  and  com- 
mitted to  memory,  and  was  surprised  to  learn  some  time 
afterwards  that  it  was  entirely  unwritten.  The  fact  is, 
that  only  in  such  a  situation  was  Dr.  Boyce  at  his  best. 
When  his  magnificent  practical  faculties  were  thoroughly 
aroused  by  some  great  undertaking,  and  his  soul  was 
kindled  with  strong  desire  to  carry  his  point,  and  the 
growing  sympatliy  of  the  audience. wrought  him  up  more 
and  more,  then  the  imaginative  and  assthetical  side  of  his 
nature  came  into  full  jjlay.  This  was  the  mail  that  so  much 
delighted  in  pictures  and  in  poetry.  Now  the  practical 
side  of  him  and  the  sesthetical  side  of  him  were  lifted  into 
vivid  and  harmonious  action.  But  in  writing  most  of  his 
sermons,  though  interested  in  the  train  of  thought,  and 
anxious  to  do  good,  there  was  no  such  exaltation  of  im- 
agination, passion,  and  taste.  Only  when  treating  a 
theme  of  uncommon  practical  importance,  and  at  the  same 
time  congenial  to  his  deepest  feelings,  does  one  of  his 
written  sermons  rise  to  this  level.  If  he  could  have 
worked  on  to  middle  age  as  exclusively  a  pastor,  his 
powers  as  a  preacher  would  have  been  much  more 
frequently  exercised  in  such  symmetrical  and  exalted 
action. 

Dr.  Peter  remembers  a  like  remarkable  exhibition  of 
power  at  a  meeting  in  Walnut  Street  Baptist  Church, 
when  President  Noah  K.  Davis,  of  Bethel  College,  spoke 
witli  his  signal  ability  against  the  removal  of  the  Semi- 
nary to  Louisville.  Dr.  Boyce's  reply  is  said  to  have 
been  able  and  impressive  in  the  extreme. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  a  matter  incidentally  con- 
nected with  the  distinguished  brother  just  referred  to, 
which  ought  to  be  a  warning  to  men  who  can  see  so  much 
deeper  into  a  millstone  than  there  is  a  hole  in  it.      The 


EITORTS  TO   liEMOVE   THE    SE.MINAUY.  237 

following  June,  President  Davis  was  elected  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  where,  as 
teacher  and  author,  he  has  ever  since  been  amply  fulfilling 
the  high  hopes  of  his  friends.  Several  Kentucky  Associa- 
tions of  the  summer  were  visited  by  a  brother  from  another 
State,  who  meant  no  unkindness  w4iatever,  but  thought  he 
perceived  a  piece- of  superb  management,  and  took  interest 
in  pointing  it  out.  "  Did  you  ever  see,"  he  would  say, 
/'  such  a  manager  as  this  man  Boyce?  He  knew  that  the 
colleges  would  be  in  the  way  of  his  scheme;  and,  do  you 
observe,  he  sent  one  ofdiis  colleagues  beforehand  to  be  Pres- 
ident of  Georgetown  College,  and  now  he  has  worked  to 
get  the  President  of  Bethel  College  moved  away  to  another 
State.  Is  n't  that  splendid? ''  When  Dr.  Boyce  heard  of  this 
commendation,  he  said  quietly  that  all  he  had  to  do  with 
Manly's  going  to  Georgetown  was  to  oppose  it  with  all  his 
might  to  the  very  last;  and  all  he  had  to  do  with  Professor 
Davis's  going  to  Virginia  was  that  he  received  a  letter 
from  a  friend  asking  him  to  recommend  Professor  Davis, 
and  he  was  of  course  glad  to  recommend  a  very  able  man 
for  a  very  desirable  position,  if  he  cared  to  have  it.  Thus 
the  splendid  piece  of  management  was  wholly  imaginary; 
as  the  Germans  say,  it  was  ''grasped  out  of  pure  air.'' 

In  May,  1873,  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  met 
at  Mobile,  and  with  it,  as  usual,  the  Trustees  of  the 
Seminary;  arid  there  Dr.  Boyce  made  what  some  of  us 
regard  as  the  most  notable  speech  of  his  life.  An  esteemed 
brother  from  North  Carolina,  in  attending  the  Commence- 
ment of  the  Seminary  at  Greenville  just  before,  had 
become  fully  persuaded  that  it  was  quite  improper  to 
remove  the  institution  from  Greenville.  On  the  way  to 
Mobile  he  communicated  this  view  to  delegates  from  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  a  strong  feeling  arose  to  that 
effect.  Whenever  any  one  of  them  sat  down  by  a  professor 
on  the  way  to  talk  about  the  matter,  his  simple  answer 
was,  "Wait  till  you  hear  Boyce;   he  knows  all  about  it." 


2oS  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

The  Trustees  having  requested  the  Convention  to  approve 
the  removal  on  which  tliey  had  decided,  the  Convention 
went  into  Committee  of  the  Whole.  Putting  another 
brother,  of  course,  into  the  chair,  Dr.  Boyce  took  the 
floor  at  a  time  he  had  not  expected,  and  spoke  a  whole 
hour.  He  reviewed  the  history  of  the  Seminary,  the 
terrible  losses  by  the  war,  the  noble  generosity  of  the 
brethren  in  South  Carolina  and  elsewhere  in  gifts  for  cur- 
rent support;  he  then  showed  the  necessity  of  permanent 
endowment,  and  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  this  save 
in  a  State  where  the  Baptists  had  much  greater  financial 
strength  than  was  then  true  of  the  State  he  himself  loved 
so  well.  But  this  statement,  or  any  statement,  must  be 
unjust  to  an  address  full  of  fact  and  argument  and  passion- 
ate appeal.  It  was  a  lifetime  concentrating  itself  upon  one 
point ;  a  great  mind  and  a  great  heart  surcharged  with 
thought  and  feeling;  a  man  of  noble  nature  appealing  to 
all  that  was  noblest  in  his  hearers ;  a  Christian  speaking 
in  Christ's  name  to  his  brethren.  Drs.  J.  C.  Furman  and 
J.  0.  B.  Dargan,  of  South  Carolina,  then  spoke  in  a  s^^irit 
worthy  of  themselves  and  of  their  State.  When  the 
matter  came  to  a  vote,  the  Convention  gave  a  most  ani- 
mated and  cordial  vote  of  approval ;  and  the  resolute  and 
consistent  brother  from  North  Carolina,  with  his  solitary 
*'Nay,"  helped  the  matter  by  showing  that  it  w^as  in  no 
sense  a  vote  nem.  con. 

In  the  summer  of  that  year  there  came  a  great  financial 
crisis, —  one  of  those  penalties  of  inflation  which  every 
now  and  then  prostrate  the  business  affairs  of  the  country, 
and  bring  to  a  standstill  all  large  projects  for  the  future. 
Of  course  men  in  Louisville  could  not  then  be  expected 
to  make  any  considerable  engagements  for  the  Seminary's 
endowment.  Yet  Boyce  could  not  give  up  his  work,  or  it 
would  have  been  regarded  in  subsequent  years  as  simply 
one  of  the  projects  that  had  perished  with  the  crisis.  It 
appears  that  as  nothing  could  then  be  done  in  the  city,  he 


EFFORTS  TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  239 

struck  out  into  the  country  clmrclies  and  associations, 
where  the  financial  troubles  would  not  be  so  promjjtly  felt, 
and  where  time  would  be  well  spent  in  extending  his 
personal  acquaintance.  This  interruption  of  his  plans 
must  have  been  a  great  trial  to  all  the  strong  elements 
of  his  character.  Dr.  M.  Gary  Peter,  of  Louisville,  whose 
father.  Dr.  Arthur  Peter,  had  pledged  the  first  large  con- 
tribution, remembers  that  during  that  first  winter  he  was 
himself  in  poor  health  and  laid  aside  from  business,  and 
that  at  his  noble  mother's  suggestion  he  went  about  the 
city  with  Dr.  Boyce,  introducing  him.  He  saj^s  few 
things  in  all  his  life  ha^^e  so  much  impressed  him  as 
the  unconquerable  fortitude,  the  patient  gentleness  and 
never-failing  courtes}^  with  which  Dr.  Boyce  endured  many 
successive  failures,  sometimes  attended  by  unkind  words. 
Such  a  winter  of  struggling  effort,  and  then  such  a  sum- 
mer of  sad  interruption, —  these  are  the  times  that  try 
men's  souls !  and  here  was  a  soul  born  to  aonquer.  This 
was  a  proud  man,  who  keenly  felt  the  personal  humiliation 
of  being  refused  like  a  beggar.  But  he  steadfastly  endured 
it  all,  because  iuWy  persuaded  that  he  was  working  for  the 
real  good  of  mankind  and  for  the  glory  of  Christ  the 
Lord,  and  hopeful,  amid  all  delays  and  difficulties,  that 
he  would  not  prove  to  be  working  in  vain. 

Late  in  the  j^ear  he  went  to  Bichmond,  Ya.,  seeking  a 
special  contribution  to  pay  notes  due  .for  salaries.  Ten 
years  later  he  wrote  to  Dr.  A.  E.  Dickinson,  volunteering 
a  contribution  for  Richmond  College,  out  of  gratitude 
for  the  cheerful  and  generous  help  which  the  Richmond 
brethren  and  sisters  had  given  him  in  that  season  of 
financial  panic. 

In  April,  1874,  Bojxe  wrote  to  Joshua  Levering,  of  Balti- 
more, who  is  now  a  leading  Trustee  of  the  Seminary,  and 
Vice-President  of  the  Board.  Mr.  Levering's  lamented 
father,  Eugene  Levering,  had  left  a  generous  bequest  to 
the  Seminary,  which  Boyce  thought  it  would  be  better  pot 


240  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

to  pay  over  immediately,  lest  it  should  be  consumed  in 
annual  expenses,  when  it  ought  to  be  kept  for  endowment. 
He  refers  to  an  appeal  he  has  recently  made,  now  the  third 
time,  for  five-year  bonds  for  annual  support.  The  move- 
ment  to  endow  and  remove  the  Seminary  has  been  so 
delayed,  and  is  likely  to  be  so  protracted,  that  he  feels  it 
necessary  to  provide  for  current  suj^port  during  several 
years  to  come.  These  bonds  to  give  so  much  a  year  for  five 
years  had  been  sent  by  mail  in  a  gratifying  manner.  "  We 
have  up  to  this  time  about  $26,000,  and  are  getting  about 
$1,000  a  day.  I  hope  this  will  increase.  I  think  it  very 
doubtful  if  we  shall  secure  $40,000  before  the  Convention 
meets,  and  if  not,  I  fear  we  had  better  give  up  the  sessions 
for  a  year  or  two,  until  we  get  our  permanent  endowment." 
The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  met  a  few  weeks  later,  at 
Jefferson,  Tex.,  and  the  amount  of  bonds  received  by  mail 
or  handed  him  by  the  delegates  came  up  to  $40,000,  show- 
ing that  the  eiiterprise  had  a  strong  hold  upon  the  brother- 
hood. Yet  $30,000  more  would  be  necessary,  and  was  it 
possible  to  obtain  this  at  the  Convention  ?  The  brethren 
from  other  States  had  been  contributing  again  and  again 
for  nine  years.  The  chief  hope  must  be  in  Texas,  where 
the  denomination  was  beginning  to  grow  conscious  of 
strength;  but  the  Seminary  was  very  little  known.  At 
the  request  of  the  Trustees  a  suitable  time  was  granted  hy 
the  Convention,  9,nd  Boyce  explained  the  history  and 
design  of  the  institution,  and  its  present  hopes  and  needs. 
The  noble  brethren,  though  just  rallying  from  the  finan- 
cial collapse  of  the  year  before,  gave  him  the  pledges  he 
asked  for  $30,000. 

This  $14,000  a  year  would  support  the  professors  and 
necessary  agents,  if  all  paid.  But  experience  had  shown 
that  deatlis,  failures  in  business,  and  other  changes  would 
prevent  full  payment,  and  a  margin  was  needed  to  make 
the  operation  safe.  When  the  Convention  adjourned,  most 
of  the  brethren  from  other  States  went  off  upon  excursions 


EFFORTS  TO   REMOVE  THE   SEMINARY.  241 

which  the  Texas  friends  liad  kindly  provided.  But  Boyce 
and  a  colleague  returned  together  in  anxious  consultation 
about  the  necessary  margin  of  tive-^^ear  bonds.  We  seemed 
to  have  exhausted  every  resource.  What  could  be  done  ? 
To  go  on  without  additional  bonds  would  be  to  accumulate 
debt,  year  after  year.  What  could  be  done  ?  A  week  or 
two  later,  the  colleague  had  to  speak  in  AVashington  city 
at  the  Baptist  Anniversaries,  including  a  Jubilee  of 
the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society.  During  the 
anniversaries  he  was  approached  by  Dr.  S.  S.  Cutting  and 
Samuel  Colgate,  Esq.,  chief  promoters  of  the  American 
Baptist  Educational  Commission,  who  said  they  had  seen 
something  in  the  paj^ers  about  an  effort  to  secure  current 
support  for  the  Southern  Seminary,  and  wanted  to  know 
how  it  stood.  The  result  was  that  they  begged  half  an 
hour  from  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 
one  evening,  and  invited  a  five  minutes'  statement  of  the 
Seminary's  condition  and  w^ants.  Then  the  brethren  began 
to  make  pledges  of  cash,  or  so  much  a  year  for  five  years, 
and  presently  Dr.  Richard  Fuller  took  the  meeting  in 
charge  for  a  good  quarter  of  an  hour,  in  his  large-hearted 
way;  the  great  assembly  grew  more  and  more  interested, 
the  half  hour  w^as  somewhat  overrun  by  common  consent, 
and  the  noble  ]Srorthern  brethren  had  pledged  over  $10,000. 
They  paid  it  too,  scarcely  a  dollar  ever  failing, —  it  is  a 
w^ay  they  have,  to  pay  the  pledges  they  make  in  public 
meetings. 

For  that  summer  of  1874  Dr.  Boyce  arranged  a  tour  of 
central  Kentucky,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  colleagues, 
with  appointments  published  in  advance,  and  running 
through  near  forty  days.  Twice  on  Sunday,  and  every 
evening  in  the  week  but  Saturday,  there  was  a  sermon, 
after  which  he  made  his  plea  for  the  Seminary,  asked  for 
contributions,  then  begged  those  who  had  promised  them 
to  remain  after  the  dismission  and  sign  his  bonds.  Begin- 
ning late  on  the  summer  evenings,  and  with  all  this  to  go 

10 


242  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

through,  it  was  usually  near  midnight  before  we  could 
retire,  and  we  must  tilke  an  earl}^  train  in  the  morning  for 
the  next  place.  One  of  the  party  suffered  much  from  the 
loss  of  sleep,  and  sometimes  strove  to  make  it  up  in  the 
afternoons.  But  Boyce  seemed  never  to  need  more  than 
five  or  six  hours  of  sleep,  and  was  in  fine  health  all  the 
time.  Every  week,  sometimes  oftener  than  once  a  week, 
one  or  the  other  would  begin  to  get  low-spirited,  through 
some  case  of  poor  success ;  but  the  moment  either  would 
show  any  despondencj^,  the  other  began  to  encourage  him, 
2)erhaps  to  laugh  it  off,  and  so  the  whole  series  of  appoint- 
ments went  through,  with  results  that  upon  the  whole 
were  highly  gratifying.  It  was  observed  throughout  this 
journe}',  as  often  before  and  afterwards,  that  Dr.  Boyce 
was  habitually  a  small  eater.  His  large  figure,  and  the 
fact  that  he  had  begun  to  have  occasional  attacks  of  gout, 
led  many  people  to  imagine  that  he  ate  very  freely.  But 
it  was  never  so,  at  any  time  of  his  life.  Even  Kentucky 
hospitality  did  not  tempt  him  beyond  a  decided  moderation. 
This  journey  and  subsequent  events  brought  out  a  noble 
trait  of  character  in  a  leading  private  member  of  one  of 
the  Kentucky  churches.  Nimrod  Long,  Esq.,  of  Bussell- 
ville,  was  a  devoted  friend  and  liberal  supporter  of  Bethel 
College.  He  believed  that  to  bring  the  Seminary  to  Louis- 
ville would  damage  the  College ;  and  so  from  the  beginning 
he  frankly  opposed  the  movement,  even  visiting  Louisville 
to  urge  that  his  kindred  and  old  friends  should  not  con- 
tribute. When  he  saw  the  announcement  that  the  series 
of  appointments  was  to  include  Eussellville,  he  wrote  at 
once  a  most  cordial  invitation  to  stay  at  his  house.  He 
said  it  was  well  understood  that  he  could  not  support  the 
movement,  as  a  matter  of  conviction,  but  he  wanted  us  to 
feol  sure,  and  everybody  else  to  see,  that  personally  he  was 
our  friend;  and  so  his  invitation  must  not  be  denied. 
There  was  never  a  more  cordial  hospitality.  He  went  to 
hear  the  sermon  and  the  plea,  looked  on  while  the  Presi- 


EFFOKTS   TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  243 

dent  and  some  of  the  Professors  of  Bethel  College  con- 
tributed, and  a  good  many  others  of  the  C(jnimunity, 
and  took  j^ains  afterwards  at  home  to  explain  to  one  of 
the  visitors  his  position.  His  frank  and  brotherly  way 
encouraged  the  other  to  assure  him  that  he  would  find 
things  work  otherwise  than  he  supposed,  as  had  been  found 
elsewhere  in  Baptist  colleges  having  no  theological  de- 
partment; that  in  two  years  after  the  Seminar}^  began  in 
Louisville,  Bethel  College  would  have  more  men  preparing 
for  the  ministry  than  ever  before.  "Well,"  he  said,  "if 
that  happens  I  '11  believe  it,  and  then  I  '11  change  my 
mind."  Only  one  yeav  after  the  Seminary  came  to  Louis- 
ville, the  S.  B.  Convention  met  in  Nashville;  and  as  Dr. 
Boyce  was  presiding,  he  requested  a  friend  to  ask  special 
contributions  for  current  support  of  the  Seminary.  The 
first  man  that  spoke  was  Nimrod  Long,  saying,  "I'll 
give  you  five  hundred  dollars."  The  answer  was,  "I 
thank  you,  many  times  over.  I  know  exactly'-  what  that 
means.''  "Yes,"  he  responded  cheeril}",  "and  that's  not 
all.  I  'm  going  to  help  your  endowment  before  long." 
Be  sure  he  kept  his  word.  He  even  came  to  Louisville  to 
visit  old  friends,  when,  some  time  afterwards,  the  Seminary 
was  again  in  a  crisis  about  the  endowment,  urging  that 
it  must  be  saved.  There  was  a  man  for  you, — a  man 
of  strong  convictions,  self-reljung  force  of  character,  who 
could  push  great  enterprises  and  never  give  way;  yet  a 
man  entirely  free  from  mere  obstinate  persistence  in  a  posi- 
tion once  assumed,  a  man  ready  to  change  his  mind  when 
he  saw  cause,  and  to  say  he  had  changed  his  mind,  and  to 
act  accordingly  with  high  enthusiasm.  Oli  that  among 
the  great  and  strong  men  of  the  world  there  were  more 
frequent  instances  of  this  admirable  spirit !  ^ 

Three  years  longer,  making  five  years  in  all,  Dr.  Boyce 
resided  in  Louisville  before  he  could  effect  the  removal  of 

1  ^Ir.    Long's   sons  also  contributed    largely,  and  his   son-in-law, 
W.  C.  Hall,  Esq.,  of  Louisville,  who  is  a  Trustee  of  the  Seminary. 


24-4  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

tlie  Seminary.  Numerous  journeys  had  to  be  made  into  all 
parts  of  Kentucky,  not  only  to  associations  and  clnirclies, 
but  again  and  again  to  the  home  of  some  man  who  was 
able  and  possibly  might  be  willing  to  help  largely.  Little 
by  little  brethren  were  brought  to  understand  the  nature 
and  tlie  aims  of  the  Seminary,  and  what  he  considered  its 
unrivalled  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  Baptist  ministry 
in  general.  Slowly  one  and  another  man  came  to  believe 
that  it  was  really  worth  while  to  have  such  an  institution 
in  Kentucky,  and  worth  his  while  to  help.  More  and 
more  the  excellent  Baptist  men  and  women  of  the  city  and 
State  came  to  know  Dr.  Boyce  personally,  to  appreciate 
the  strength  and  nobleness  of  his  character,  the  breadth  of 
his  good  sense  and  beauty  of  his  gentlemanly  bearing,  the 
sincerity  and  devotion  of  his  personal  piety.  In  fact,  a 
large  proportion  of  people,  even  among  those  of  consider- 
able intelligence,  can  seldom  be  brought  to  take  lively 
interest  in  something  still  future  and  distant,  in  some 
enterprise  of  which  they  have  no  personal  experience, 
until  they  come  to  know  and  love  its  living  representa- 
tive. This  makes  it  quite  important  that  corresponding 
secretaries  and  other  general  agents  should  not  be  too 
often  changed.  Many  began  to  help  Dr.  Boyce  because 
they  loved  him  and  sympathized  with  his  intense  desire; 
others  because  they  saw  he  would  never  give  up,  would 
keep  at  it  till  he  succeeded,  and  would  politely  keep  after 
them  till  they  yielded.  Oh,  the  long,  sore  struggle  for  the 
high-toned  gentleman,  the  ambitious  student  cut  off  from 
the  studies  he  loved,  the  man  who  had  devoted  himself 
to  teaching,  and  now,  year  after  year,  could  not  teach 
at  all! 

He  also  found  it  necessary  to  make  many  journeys  to 
other  States,  with  a  view  to  obtain  from  them  the  requisite 
f  200, 000,  which  with  the  expected  Kentucky  contribution 
would  make  half  a  million  of  endowment.  There  is  men- 
tion in  a  letter  of  July,  1875,  of  such  a  trip  recently  made 


EFFORTS   TO    KEMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  245 

to  Texas  and  Mississippi.  In  the  beginning  of  1876 
he  had  an  agent  at  work  in  Texas,  Kev.  A.  J.  Holt,  and 
at  the  same  time  Rev.  G.  AY.  Given  began  to  lielp  liim  in 
Kentucky.  In  the  beginning  of  1877  Dr.  M.  B.  VVliarton 
commenced  an  agency  of  several  years  in  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, and  other  States;  and  there  were  various  other  agents 
whose  names  are  not  recalled.  At  the  Kichmond  meeting 
of  the  S.  B.  Convention  in  May,  1876,  resolutions  were 
adopted,  on  motion  of  Hon.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  expressing  a 
deep  interest  in  the  Seminary,  and  a  strong  desire  for  the 
early  completion  of  its  endowment,  and  warmly  recom- 
mending liberal  and  speedy  contributions,  with  a  view  to 
secure  the  completion  of  the  requisite  endowment,  if  pos- 
sible, by  the  end  of  that  year.  And  for  this  purpose  the 
Board  authorized  the  General  Financial  Agent  (Dr.  Boyce) 
to  employ  as  many  helpers  as  he  shonld  think  proper. 

Through  all  these  financial  labors  Dr.  Bo^'ce  gladly 
embraced  numerous  opportunities  for  preaching,  both  in 
his  journeys  and  at  Louisville.  In  January,  1875,  it  is 
mentioned  in  a  letter  that  he  is  preaching  at  Walnut 
Street,  where  the  church  had  at  that  time  no  pastor. 
Thongh  frequently  interrupted  by  necessar^^  journej's,  he 
supplied  the  pulpit  for  many  months.  He  also  preached 
in  the  other  Baptist  churches  of  the  city  a  number  of 
times,  and  to  several  churches  of  other  denominations. 
With  the  spirit  of  a  true  preacher,  Dr.  Boyce  yearned 
after  the  pulpit  and  the  pastorate.  No  man  is  fit  to  be  a 
theological  professor  who  would  not  really  prefer  to  be  a 
pastor.  But  think  what  is  thereby  involved  of  sacrifice 
for  every  man  fitly  engaged  in  such  instruction!  Once,  in 
1875,  Dr.  Boyce  wrote  to  Dr.  Tupper  that  he  sometimes 
felt  strongly  tempted  to  let  go  the  Seminary  and  devote 
himself  to  pastoral  work. 

The  internal  history  of  the  Seminary,  during  these 
years  of  Dr.  Boyce's  struggling  efforts  to  prepare  for 
removal,   was  quiet  and  fairly  prosperous  for  some  four 


246  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

3^ears.  The  number  of  students  rose  to  over  sixty,  and 
included  not  a  few  men  of  remarkable  gifts  and  promise. 
Drs.  Toy  and  Whitsitt  were  putting  forth  their  finest 
energies  in  study  and  teaching.  Dr.  Williams  was  mak- 
ing Systematic  Theology  a  delight  to  the  students,  while 
still  keeping  up  his  former  classes  in  Church  Histor}-,  and 
Church  Government  and  Pastoral  Duties.  But,  alas !  his 
health  somewhat  suddenly  gave  way.  He  had  never  been 
exactly  a  vigorous  man,  w^as  little  inclined  to  exercise,  and 
worked  with  great  mental  intensit3\  The  strain  of  double 
work,  continued  year  after  year,  through  the  impossibility 
of  Dr.  Boyce's  returning,  wore  him  out  more  seriously 
than  any  of  us  were  aware.  He  would  not  think  it  neces- 
sary to  give  up  his  country  churches,  where  he  was  greatly 
beloved,  and  found  preaching  a  constant  joy.  One  winter 
night  he  slept  in  a  small  room  with  a  missing  pane  of 
glass.  The  result  was  a  deep  cold,  and  a  throat  ail  to 
which  he  would  not  yield,  and  which  steadily  worked  its 
way  downward.  He  had  an  indomitable  spirit,  and  could 
not  bear  to  acknowledge  himself  unable  to  go  on  with  his 
loved  work,  until  at  last  he  stopped  through  sheer  neces- 
sity, and  all  too  late.  The  Board  at  Bichmond  in  May, 
1876,  authorized  the  faculty  to  emj)loy  competent  brethren 
to  give  aid  in  the  instruction,  in  consequence  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liams's ill  health,  to  whom  they  tendered  leave  of  absence, 
with  salary  continued.  The  faculty  arranged  that  Church 
History  should  be  taught  by  Assistant-Professor  Whitsitt, 
and  Latin  Theology  by  Professor  Toy.  In  the  general  or 
English  Theology  class  Dr.  J.  L.,Beynolds,  then  professor 
in  Furman  University,  gave  three  lectures  a  week,  and  in 
Church  Government  and  Pastoral  Duties  two  lectures  a  week 
were  given  by  President  James  C.  Furman.  In  Homiletics, 
Dr.  James  C.  Hiden,  then  pastor  in  Greenville,  gave  aid 
in  the  instruction,  and  especially  in  correcting  the  written 
exercises,  as  the  professor  in  that  department  had  to 
resume  the  Junior  Class  in  Greek,  previously  taught  by 


EFFORTS  TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.  247 

Professor  Whitsitt.  The  faculty  were  very  thankful  that 
three  gentlemen  were  on  the  ground  so  remarkably 
competent  to  give  aid  in  these  several  schools. 

At  the  same  Kichmond  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
the  new  degree  of  ''English  Graduate"  was  established. 
This  meant,  and  has  continued  to  mean,  that  when  a 
student  has  been  graduated  separately  in  every  school  or 
department  except  the  classes  in  Hebrew  and  Greek 
and  the  Latin  class  in  Theology,  he  shall  receive  a 
general  diploma  as  an  English  Graduate  of  the  Sem- 
inary. It  should  be  observed  that  this  is  not  a  separate 
course,  pursued  by  those  only  who  do  not  study  the 
learned  languages,  but  these  men  have  studied  all  their 
subjects  in  the  same  classes  with  the  men  who  also  study 
Hebrew,  etc. 

Dr.  Williams  made  conscientious  efforts,  going  to  the 
mountains  in  summer,  and  down  the  country  in  winter,  to 
resist  the  fell  ravages  of  consumption.  But  the  movement 
was  sadly  rapid.  He  died  at  Aiken,  S.  C,  Feb.  20,  1877, 
a  little  less  than  fifty-six  years  of  age.  He  was  buried  at 
Greenville,  and  Dr.  Boyce  came  from  Louisville  to  take 
part  in  the  funeral  services.  The  text  for  the  funeral  dis- 
course by  Dr.  Broadus  had  been  indicated  by  Dr.  Williams 
himself:  "My  times  are  in  thy  hand."  It  is  vain  to 
attempt  any  fitting  eulogy  of  William  Williams.  Besides 
the  high  intellectual  powers  which  have  been  several 
times  referred  to  in  this  narrative,  his  character  was  such 
as  to  command  profound  respect  and  warm  affection. 
While  undemonstrative  in  manner,  and  scorning  all  pre- 
tence, it  needed  only  to  know  him  fairly  well,  and  you 
would  love  him  warmly.  Whoever  knew  a  man  more 
completely  genuine,  more  thoroughly  sincere,  more  consci- 
entious in  all  his  doings?  Through  life  he  continued  to 
exhibit  those  qualities  of  mind  and  character  which  he  had 
shown  already  in  college  days,  and  which  are  so  well 
stated  by  Dr.  J.  L.  j\L  Curry,  who  was  his  younger  fellow- 


248  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES    P.   BOYCE. 

student  in  Franklin  College,  Georgia,  now  the  University 
of  Georgia :  — 

"  111  his  classes  he  was  easily  first,  and  the  first  honor  which  he 
attained  at  his  graduation,  was  the  proof  of  his  industry  and  attain- 
ments in  the  College  course.  The  qualifications  of  mind  which 
gave  him  success  in  the  class-room  gave  him  success  in  the 
debating  society,  and  at  that  period  the  debating  societies  were 
conducted  with  an  enthusiasm,  an  interest,  a  devotion,  an  emula- 
tion that  I  have  not  known  elsewhere  or  since.  His  power  of 
analysis,  his  keen  and  thorough  perception,  his  clearness  of  state- 
ment, his  discrimination  between  the  true  and  the  false,  the 
genuine  and  the  specious,  his  apt  and  concise  language,  his 
honesty  of  thinking,  made  him  a  master  in  debate.  I  recall  a 
l)ublic  speech  which  he  made  during  his  Senior  year,  on  tem- 
perance, —  a  dry  subject,  unless  illustrated  by  anecdote  and 
eloquence.  It  was  short,  simple,  compact,  argumentative,  con- 
clusive ;  and  I  heard  no  speech  during  my  college  days  wliich 
elicited  such  favorable  comment.  In  personal  intercourse  he  won 
respect  and  regard  by  quietness  of  manner,  unvarying  courtesy, 
frankness  of  speech,  uprightness  of  conduct,  and  independence  of 
thought.  No  one  who  knew  him  in  college  life  was  surprised  at 
his  remarkable  career  as  a  lawyer,  a  preacher,  and  a  teacher." 

Dr.  Williams  liked  best  to  prepare  his  sermons  by  care- 
fully writing  them  in  full;  then,  leaving  the  manuscript 
at  home,  and  making  no  attempt  at  recitation,  he  spoke 
freely.  By  this  means  he  secured  the  condensation  and 
terseness  in  which  he  so  delighted  and  so  excelled;  and 
yet  the  delivery  was  living  speech.  This  method  of  pre- 
paring and  preaching  has  great  advantages  for  those  with 
whom  it  never  degenerates  into  recitation.  It  would  be  a 
good  thing  for  our  ministry  if  a  volume  of  Dr.  Williams's 
sermons  could  be  published  and  widely  scattered. 

It  proved  im[)ossible  for  Dr.  Boyce  to  secure  pledges 
for  the  entire  tliree  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  Kentucky 
and  two  hundred  thousand  in  other  States  by  the  end  of 
1876,  or  by  May  of  the  following  j'^ear.     But  the  work  had 


EFFORTS  TO   REMOVE   THE   SEMINARY.         249 

so  far  progressed  as  to  give  assurance  that  it  would  ulti- 
mately succeed.  Very  encouraging  was  the  gift,  by  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  of  a  tract  of  land  not  far 
from  Louisville,  which  seemed  likely  to  prove  extremely 
valuable;  and  we  know  that  other  important  gifts  came 
afterwards  from  the  same  source.  There  were  not  a  few, 
in  the  city  and  State,  who  by  this  time  had  given  quite 
generously.  Dr.  Arthur  Peter  made  at  the  outset  a 
large  gift  in  land.  Messrs.  George  W.  and  W.  F. 
Norton  had  begun  what  proved  to  be  a  series  of  noble 
contributions.  Messrs.  Joe  Werne,  J.  C.  McFerran,  J.  B. 
McFerran,  John  S.  Long,  W.  C.  Hall,  Theodore  Harris, 
and  C.  W.  Grheens  had  given  five  thousand  dollars  each, 
twelve  persons  had  given  one  thousand  each,  including 
three  who  were  not  Baptists;  and  many  of  the  smaller 
contributions  were  in  fact  extremely  generous.  There  had 
also  been  some  very  gratifying  donations  elsewhere  in 
Kentucky,  and  in  other  States.  And  now  the  conclusion 
was  reached  that  the  removal  should  no  longer  be  deferred. 
It  appeared  necessary  that  Boyce  should  resume  teaching, 
as  Williams  had  been  taken  away;  and  yet  he  could  not 
let  go  his  hold  upon  the  endowment  work  of  which  Louis- 
ville was  the  centre.  The  number  of  students  in  attend- 
ance at  Greenville  had  for  four  years  stood  still  at  sixty-six 
to  sixty-eight,  and  was  not  likely  to  increase  without  some 
forward  morement.  All  concerned  were  growing  weary  of 
the  long  delay  and  the  apparent  uncertainty.  Something 
was  needed  to  give  a  new^  impulse  to  the  whole  enterprise. 
So  the  Board  resolved,  in  the  meeting  at  New  Orleans  in 
May,  1877,  that  the  Seminary  should  be  removed  at  once, 
—  a  proper  understanding  being  reached  during  the  sum- 
mer with  the  General  Association  of  Kentucky,  so  as  to 
leave  no  hitch  as  to  the  pledges  for  endowment. 

The  idea  of  immediate  removal  was  favorably  received. 
Friends  in  Louisville  and  Kentucky  felt  cheered  and 
assured.     The   long-cherished  idea  was  about  to  descend 


-50  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

from  the  clouds  and  become  an  accomplished  fact.  To  be 
sure,  there  was  as  yet  but  little  of  endowment  actually 
invested  and  yielding  income.  The  annual  receipts  upon 
the  five-year  bonds  of  1874  were  in  considerable  part 
needed  to  support  agents  in  different  States,  in  order  to 
make  further  collections  for  endowment.  But  necessary' 
progress  is  true  prudence;  and  although  the  Seminary 
suffered  great  financial  difficulties  a  few  years  later,  no 
one  has  ever  questioned  that  it  was  wise  to  effect  the 
removal  without  further  delay. 


IN  THE  SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  251 


CHAPTER  XY. 

TEN   BUSY   YEARS   IN    THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE, 

1877-1887. 

IT  was  ph3^sically  no  great  task  to  remove  the  Seminary 
from  Greenville  to  Louisville.  There  was  nothing  to 
move,  except  the  lihrarj'  of  a  few  thousand  volumes,  and 
three  professors, — Broadus,  Toy,  and  Whitsitt, — only 
one  of  whom  had  a  family.  We  all  loved  Greenville 
warml}^  We  had  found  the  climate  healthy,  and  the 
community  remarlvahly  agreeable.  We  were  strongl}^ 
attached  to  the  Baptist  Church,  the  professors  in  Furman 
University,  and  many  other  valued  friends,  of  all  persua- 
sions and  pursuits.  The  Seminary  had  existed  there  for 
eighteen  years,  gathering  many  valued  associations,  and 
we  had  to  leave  behind  the  tomb  of  our  cherished  colleague, 
and  other  sacred  spots.  But  there  was  no  doubt  in  any 
mind  among  us  that  the  removal  was  wise,  and  all  felt 
hopeful  that  the  results  would  vindicate  the  decision  which 
had  been  reached.  There  was  at  once  a  considerable  in- 
crease of  attendance,  the  whole  number  of  students  for  the 
first  session  at  Louisville  being  eighty-nine,  while  sixty- 
eight  had  been  the  largest  number  before. 

The  session  opened  Sept.  1,  1877,  and  on  the  previous 
evening,  in  the  Public  Library  Hall  (now  the  Polytechnic 
building).  Dr.  Boyce  devoted  the  usual  Introductory 
Lecture  to  an  outline  of  the  Seminary's  history,  and  its 
peculiar  plans  of  instruction.  This  lecture  was  published 
in  the  ''Western  Recorder."  Some  extracts  from  it  will 
indicate  the  views  and  feelings  with  which  he  now  looked 
back  upon  his  years  of  toil  and  trial,  and  onwards  to  the 


252  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   F.   BOYCE. 

Seminary's  prospects  and  hopes.  The  first  extract  merely 
alludes,  in  passing,  to  opposition  which  he  had  encoun- 
tered in  various  ways,  sometimes  unkind,  and  personally 
painful. 

"I  do  not  propose  to  recount  the  history  of  this  enterprise. 
That  history,  so  far  as  it  ever  can  he  written,  must  await  the  full 
fruitiou  of  all  our  hopes,  and  should  come  from  one  less  intimately 
associated  with  it  than  I  have  heen.  It  never  can  be  written  in 
full ;  it  never  ought  to  he  thus  written.  It  is  only  God's  inspira- 
tion which  dare  speak  of  evils  and  faults  and  injuries  and  calum- 
nies proceediug  from  men  whom  we  know  to  he  good.  That 
iuspired  Word  alone  can  make  these  simply  the  shadows  which 
bring  out  more  gloriously  the  brightness  of  the  character  of  the 
good.  Human  prejudice  and  passion  M^ould  make  hideous  deform- 
ity of  all  by  the  excesses  which  its  pencillings  would  exhibit. 
Let  all  such  evil  be  buried  in  the  silence  of  forgetfnlness.  Let 
the  history,  when  written,  tell  only  of  the  toils  and  trials  and  sacri- 
fices, and  wisdom  and  prudence  and  foresight,  and  prayers  and  tears 
and  faith,  of  the  people  of  God  to  whom  the  institution  will  have 
owed  its  existence  and  its  possibilities  of  blessing.  And  God  grant 
that  it  may  go  down  to  succeeding  ages  to  bless  his  cause  and 
glorify  his  name  when  all  of  us  here  have  been  forgotten  in  this 
■world  forever!  In  the  establishment  and  endowment  of  this 
Seminary  we  think  we  have  solved  a  problem  of  interest,  not  to 
Baptists  of  the  South  alone,  but  to  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
ministry  of  Christ  as  an  instrumentality  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
and  the  edification  of  his  saints." 

He  then  traces  the  series  of  movements,  ending  with  a 
meeting  in  Louisville  twenty  years  before,  which  had  is- 
sued in  the  establishment  of  the  Seminary  at  Greenville. 

''  The  wise  course  pursued  in  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 
and  manner  of  working  of  this  Seminary,  to  a  great  degree  made 
final  success  certain.  Men  who  had  objected  to  previous  plans  of 
theological  education  yielded  readily  to  this.  By  it  all  the  objec- 
tions formerly  urged  seemed  to  have  been  removed.  The  means 
of  convincing  the  masses  had  already  thus  been  attained.  From 
the  beginning  the  work  of  endowment  was  popular.     The  funds 


IN   THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE.  253 

were  readily  contributed.  In  less  than  six  months  nearly  one- 
half  the  amount  needed  had  been  pledged  in  South  Carolina,  and 
witliin  two  years  the  remainder  had  been  subscribed  iu  tlu;  other 
States  of  the  South." 

But  np  to  that  time  only  tlie  Atlantic  Southern  States 
and  some  of  the  Gulf  States  had  shown  much  interest  in 
the  movement.  The  calamities  of  the  war  were  overruled 
for  good.  Losing  the  endowment,  and  compelled  after 
the  war  to  seek  aid  for  temporary  support  wherever  it 
could  be  found,  the  Seminary  had  enlisted  a  wide  sym- 
pathy, and  had  thus  become  what  it  was  intended  to  be,  — 
the  common  Seminary  of  the  Baptists  of  the  South.  • 

"  The  influence  it  has  to-day  in  the  entire  South  is  marvellous. 
No  enterprise  of  Southern  Baptists  lies  nearer  to  their  hearts,  or 
is  more  liberally  contributed  to  of  their  means,  than  this.  Signal 
proofs  of  the  facts  could  be  given,  were  they  necessary." 

After  speaking  warmlj^  of  Greenville, —  the  place  and 
the  people, —  he  goes  on, — 

"  But  the  disadvantages  of  a  location  in  a  small  town  were 
soon  realized.  There  was  not  room  enough  for  practical  work. 
Our  object  had  been  practical  training  as  well  as  efficient  study. 
This  could  not  be  done  there,  and  the  opportunity  of  doing 
both  of  them  is  admii-ably  secured  here.  To  recount  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  we  have  been  led  to  Louisville  would 
be  to  give  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  history  of  God's  provi- 
dence. Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  calamities  of  the  war  forced  ns 
to  remove  from  South  Carolina.  The  first  endowment  having 
been  lost,  it  was  necessary  to  secure  another.  In  that  other, 
South  Carolina  could  not  give  the  amount  necessary  from  the 
State  in  which  the  Seminary  is  located,  scarcely  able,  as  its 
Baptist  population  now  is,  to  complete  the  endowment  of  the 
Furman  University,  which  they  had  previously  established.  In 
seeking  a  home  elsewhere,  we  have  been  fortunately  brought  to 
this  city.  Its  vast  extent  and  large  population,  with  the  thou- 
sands here  who  need  the  instruction  which  Sunday-schools  and 
small  preaching  places  can  aflFord,  furnish  every  facility  for  exer- 


254  MExMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

cising  our  pupils  in  tlie  practical  work  of  pastor  and  preacher. 
With  its  extensive  railroad  facilities  we  are  put  in  immediate 
connection  with  all  portions  of  the  South.  .  .  .  Beginning  with 
Maryland  on  the  northeast,  and  extending  to  Missouri  on  the  north- 
west, thence  to  Texas  on  the  southwest,  and  to  Florida  on  the 
southeast,  ...  in  connection  with  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion there  are  one  million  one  hundred  thousand  church-members, 
and  live  million  live  hundred  thousand  persons  associated  with 
Baptist  congregations,  seven  thousand  ministers,  and  thirteen 
Uiousaud  churches.  From  these  we  must  expect  large  numbers. 
I  have  been  accustomed  to  estimate  the  possibility  of  five  hundred 
students  in  attendance  after  a  lapse  of  some  years.  I  see  no  reason 
why  this  sliould  not  be  so. 

"  Our  chief  difficulty  lay  in  the  varied  degrees  of  cultivation 
and  knowledge  possessed  by  our  ministry.  They  are  as  far  from 
being  homogeneous  in  this  respect  as  they  well  can  be.  The 
vast  multitude  have  had  but  the  advantages  of  English  educa- 
tion, and  many  of  them  even  in  this  respect  are  very  defective. 
A  large  number  have  attained  the  education  afforded  by  our 
ordinary  colleges.  Some  have  been  trained  in  institutions  which 
will  compare  with  any  in  the  land.  The  variety  of  natural  gifts 
is  as  diversified  as  that  of  educational  development.  These  are 
facts  in  our  ministry  which  must  be  considered  in  the  solution  of 
this  problem.  How,  then,  shall  provision  be  made  for  all  classes 
of  such  a  ministry  ? 

'^  We  cannot  prevent  this  diversity,  if  we  desire  to  do  so. 
Many  of  us  think  it  just  the  kind  of  ministry  we  should  have. 
We  believe  that  what  appears  to  human  eyes  a  source  of  weak- 
ness is  in  reality  a  source  of  strength.  But  onr  time  to-night 
forbids  the  attempt  to  argue  this  question  at  length.  Suffice  it 
to  point  to  the  extensive  use  made  by  the  Romish  Church  of  just 
such  instrumentalities,  and  to  the  further  fact  that  the  two  largest 
denominations  in  this  country,  which  have  entirely  under  their 
influence  twenty-five  of  the  fifty  millions  of  its  population  (I 
mean  the  Methodists  and  Baptists)  are  the  two  which  alone  foster 
and  rely  upon  men  of  such  a  variety  of  learning  and  ability.  The 
humblest  and  most  untaught  of  this  ministry  are  not  necessarily 
ignorant  of  the  Word  of  God,  though  these  may  sometimes  pre- 
sent it  in  a  rough  and  uncouth  form.  They  may  also  be,  and 
commonly  are,  full  of  faith  and  prayer  and  zeal  in  the  preaching 


IN   THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  255 

of  the  simple  gospel.  .  .  .  That  God  has  blessed  this  ministry  of 
varied  classes  we  cannot  doubt,  as  we  remember  the  abundant 
proofs  it  has  brought  forth.  Standing  here  to-night  amid  the 
cultivation  and  scholarship  of  the  ministry  of  tliis  favored  city, 
and  among  some,  doubtless,  who  disagree  with  the  opinion  I 
express,  I  freely  state  my  own  personal  conviction  that  it  is  the 
kind  of  ministry  which  God  has  ordained  for  the  conversion  of 
the  world  and  the  edification  of  his  people.  ...  I  believe  that 
no  denomination  can  exert  a  widespread  influence  throughout  all 
classes  of  the  people  which  does  not  receive  its  ministry  from 
classes  as  varied  as  the  membership  it  contains. 

"  For  us,  at  any  rate,  this  ministry  of  varied  classes  is  an 
existing  fact.  The  very  structure  ol  our  church  polity  renders  it 
impossible  to  rid  ourselves  of  it.  What,  then,  shall  be  dt)ne  with 
this  ministry,  so  far  as  theological  education  is  concerned  ?  Shall 
we  make  no  provision  for  it  ?  Shall  we  have  schools  for  mere 
English  students,  and  others  for  those  of  classical  culture,  or  shall 
we  combine  in  one  common  Seminary  instruction  for  them  all  ? 

''  Some  have  proposed  separate  schools  for  men  of  collegiate 
and  non-collegiate  attainments.  Others  have  admitted  the  mere 
English  students  to  pursue  in  an  imperfect  and  desultory  manner, 
at  such  times  and  in  such  classes  as  were  possible,  such  studi(  s 
as  they  might  pick  out  here  and  there  from  a  course  arranged 
especially  for  men  of  collegiate  education.  Our  plan  has  been  to 
arrange  equally  for  these  and  for  those  of  higher  culture,  —  even 
the  highest,  —  in  the  one  common  theological  seminary.  Which 
is  the  wiser  course?  Which  best  solves  the  problem  of  the 
varied  ministry  ?  Looking  back  at  the  past  from  the  stand- 
point of  to-night,  we  believe  that  ours  is  the  true  solution.  In 
it,  at  least,  we  give  to  men  of  merely  English  culture  all  the 
advantages  they  would  gain  by  having  a  separate  school.  Every 
subject  which  could  be  taught  is  as  clearly  and  fully  presented  to 
them  as  though  it  were  to  be  comprehended  by  no  other  minds 
than  theirs.  A  wide  range  of  study  has  been  made  accessible  to 
them.  At  the  same  time,  we  have  not  lowered  the  standard  for 
men  of  the  highest  culture,  but,  on  the  contrary,  have  from  the 
very  arrangements  necessary  for  our  merely  English  students  been 
able  to  extend  the  course  of  the  better-educated  beyond  what  we 
could  otherwise  have  done.  Neither  is  there  any  omission  of  any 
study,  or  any  part  of  a  study,  usual  in  theological  institutions,  but, 


256  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

ou  the  contrary,  we  add  to  the  usual  curriculum.  If  at  any  time 
aud  iu  any  respect  the  teaching  falls  below  what  is  elsevA'here 
given,  that  is  due,  not  to  the  fault  of  the  system,  nor  to  the 
training  and  attainments  of  the  students,  but  to  the  difference  of 
ability  and  learning  which  one  instructor  possesses  as  compared 
with  another.  In  other  words,  the  same  professor  will  teach 
more  thoroughly  and  completely  under  this  than  under  the  usual 
system. 

''  The  first  change  we  make  is  iu  dropping  the  form  of  classes 
arranged  according  to  the  number  of  years  of  attendance,  and 
adopting  that  of  separate  classes,  completing  each  study  within 
the  one  session  in  which  it  is  taken.  The  other  system  goes 
upon  the  mistaken  supposition  that  all  students  can  advance 
equally  over  a  given  study  in  the  same  time.  This  is  not  true 
even  of  college  graduates.  Wherever  students  are  arranged  in 
curriculum  classes,  the  amount  of  study  must  be  adapted  to  the 
average  capacity  of  the  class  in  all  the  studies  pursued  together, 
and  not  to  that  average  in  one  study  only,  as  in  separate  schools. 
The  consequence  is  that  men  of  better  minds  and  preparation 
are  retarded,  and  those  who  are  below  the  average  are  unable 
thoroughly  to  master  the  subjects  of  study.  But  if  each  one 
selects  such  a  number  of  studies  as  he  can  successfully  pursue, 
some  may  take  only  two,  others  three,  others  even  four  or  more, 
and  the  difference  in  capacity  and  training  is  compensated  by  the 
greater  or  less  amount  of  work  undertaken.  This  is  to  the  com- 
mon advantage  of  all.  No  one  is  kept  back  by  the  incapacity  of 
others,  and  no  one  forced  to  learn  imperfectly  for  lack  of  time  to 
do  the  work  thoroughly.  .  .  .  The  simple  division  into  schools 
of  subjects,  rather  than  into  classes  of  men,  gives  the  needed 
condition  of  successful  work  for  all. 

*'  A  second  equally  simple  an'angement  has  been  to  have  a 
separate  hour  for  each  study,  so  that  no  two  classes  are  reciting 
at  the  same  time.  It  matters  not,  therefore,  what  subjects  are 
taken,  the  student  finds  his  recitation  hours  entirely  distinct,  and 
not  conflicting  with  each  other." 

Dr.  Boyce  then  goes  on  to  show  how  these  arrangements 
enable  the  student  to  spend  in  the  Seminary  one  year,  or 
two,  three,  or  four  years,  or  even  more,  selecting  for  each 


IX  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  257 

year  the  subjects  best  adapted  to  his  wishes  and  prepara- 
tion, and  completing  each  subject  within  the  session.  He 
shows  that  this  plan  has  not  only  great  advantages  for  the 
students,  but  also  for  the  professors. 

*'  I  think  I  speak  in  reason  when  I  say  that  under  this  system 
any  professor  can  accomplish  twofold  as  thorough  work  as  he 
could  under  the  arrangement  usually  made.  .  .  .  From  this 
review  of  the  course  it  is  manifest  that  by  our  system  no  student 
sufl'ers  any  detriment,  but  that  both  kinds  of  students  are  the  ratlier 
benefited  by  the  arrangements  for  united  study.  It  may  be  stated 
that  this  result  was  unexpected.  We  had  believed  that  no  injury 
would  accrue.  We  had  not  dreamed  of  the  greater  extent  to 
which,  in  this  and  in  other  ways,  the  studies  of  the  college-bred 
students  would  be  extended  by  a  plan,  the  primary  object  of  which 
had  been  to  make  provision  for  the  better  instruction  of  the  mere 
English  students." 

Here  again,  in  Louisville,  as  when  opening  the  Semi- 
nary in  Greenville,  Dr.  Boyce  suggested  that  the  Seminary 
should  abstain  from  erecting  buildings  until  adequate  provi- 
sion should  first  have  been  made  for  supporting  the  instruc- 
tion. He  rented  lecture-rooms  and  a  library  room  in  the 
third  and  fourth  stories  of  what  was  then  known  as  Public 
Library  Hall,  now  the  Polytechnic.  A  hotel  of  moderate 
size  was  rented,  with  additional  rooms  in  a  building  not  far 
away,  to  supply  the  wants  of  students.  Such  continued  to 
be  the  Seminary's  local  habitation  for  a  number  of  years. 
A  theological  school  draws  almost  all  of  its  students  from  a 
distance,  and  therefore  is  less  dependent  than. other  insti- 
tutions upon  the  local  attraction  of  large  and  handsome 
buildings.  These  are  very  desirable,  to  interest  the  general 
community,  to  gratify  the  friends  in  general,  and  to  carry 
on  the  teaching  with  full  convenience  and  advantage;  but 
they  are  not  indispensable  in  attracting  students.  Many 
a  struggling  institution  has  been  long  hindered,  some 
have  been  even  ruined,  by  the  erection  of  costly  build- 
ings before  the  time.      The  main  thing  in  any  educational 

17 


2oS  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

establishment,  and  especially  in  what  are  called  profes- 
sional schools,  is  always  the  teaching.  Sooner  or  later,  good 
teaching  is  recognized,  and  bad  teaching  is  detected. 

It  was  found,  to  an  even  greater  extent  than  had  been 
anticipated,  that  the  students  could  live  more  cheaply  in 
Louisville  than  they  had  done  in  Greenville,  because 
Louisville  is  a  provision  centre,  and  almost  all  supplies 
could  be  procured  at  wholesale  rates.  It  was  of  course 
otherwise  with  professors  having  families,  for  whom  life 
in  a  large  city  is  in  many  ways  expensive ;  and  being  un- 
able to  provide  dwellings,  the  Seminary  made  a  special 
provision  for  house-rent.  The  professors  and  their  fami- 
lies were  most  cordially  received  by  leading  Baptist  families 
of  the  city,  and  many  citizens  of  various  denominations. 
The  hearts  of  Kentuckians  are  big  and  warm.  The  social 
life  of  Louisville  was  at  once  seen  to  be  of  uncommon 
excellence  and  attractiveness.  One  of  the  professors  had 
stated  some  years  before,  at  the  General  Association  of 
Kentucky,  that  if  he  had  to  leave  South  Carolina  and 
could  n't  go  back  to  Virginia,  he  had  rather  remove  to 
Kentucky  than  anywhere  else;  and  that  they  ought  to  take 
this  as  a  compliment,  —  which  many  heartily  said  they  did. 
There  has  never  been  occasion  to  abate  this  admiration  of 
Kentuckians. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  Dr.  Boyce  himself  and  to  his 
colleagues  that  he  could  once  more  resume  the  work  of 
regular  teaching,  from  which  he  had  been  cut  off  for  five 
weary  years.  For  the  first  two  years  at  Louisville  he  was 
still  called  the  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  Historj^,  but  in 
fact  taught  Systematic  Theology,  of  which  there  was  nom- 
inally no  professor.  Professor  Whitsitt  had  begun  to 
teach  Ecclesiastical  History  after  Dr.  Williams's  health 
gave  way,  and  he  continued  to  do  this  provisionally  at 
Louisville  until  he  was  finally  made  professor  in  that  de- 
partment, to  which  in  the  course  of  the  years  he  has  given 
a  quite  extraordinary  attractiveness.     Dr.  Boyce  was  earn- 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  259 

estly  urged  by  his  other  colleagues  to  resume  the  teaching 
of  Systematic  Theology,  to  which  he  was  far  from  averse, 
if  satisfied  that  such  an  arrangement  was  best.  The  sacri- 
fice he  had  made  in  giving  up  that  department  had  turned 
out  to  be  on  his  part  only  a  matter  of  feeling,  as  he  never 
had  opportunity  to  teach  Church  History  at  all,  and  could 
now  resume  the  subject  to  which  he  had  alw^ays  been 
devoted.  His  colleagues  expressed  to  him  the  full  convic- 
tion that  while  few  men  in  all  the  world  could  equal  Dr. 
Williams  in  lecturing  on  theology,  and  the  students  had 
unspeakably  enjoyed  his  clear  and  vigorous  statements  of 
doctrine,  yet  Dr.  Boyce  could  do  still  more  towards  giving 
them  a  profound  personal  acquaintance  with  doctrinal  truth 
by  that  sj'stem  of  thorough  drill  in  recitation  which  he  had 
derived  from  President  Wayland,  and  had  developed  in  his 
own  fashion. 

The  number  of  students  for  the  second  session  at  Louis- 
ville rose  to  ninety-six,  and  it  w^as  evident  that  the  atten- 
dance would  continue  to  increase.  The  financial  situation 
w^as  not  entirely  satisfactory,  as  will  hereafter  appear, 
though  Dr.  Boyce  was  still  hopeful  of  carrying  through 
the  existing  plan. 

But  at  the  end  of  the  first  Louisville  session,  and  through- 
out the  second,  the  Seminary  was  found  to  be  involved  in 
a  new  and  painful  difficulty,  which  w^eighed  heavily  upon 
Dr.  Boyce's  heart.  Certain  view^s  in  the  historical  and 
literar}'-  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  in  later 
years  are  popularly  described  by  the  misused  term  *'  higher 
criticism,"  w^ere  found  to  have  been  adopted  and  taught 
by  our  justly  honored  and  dearly  beloved  colleague.  Dr. 
Toy.  As  this  became  a  matter  of  notoriety,  and  yet  a 
good  many  failed  to  understand  Dr.  Toy,  on  the  one  hand, 
or  Dr.  Boyce  on  the  other,  it  may  be  proper  to  give  a  plain 
statement  of  the  facts,  which  are  believed  to  show  nothing 
in  the  least  discreditable  to  the  character  and  motives  of 
either  party. 


260  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

Dr.  Toy  had  entered  upon  the  study  and  teaching  of 
the  Old  Testament  with  the  idea  that  it  was  very  impor- 
tant to  bring  the  Scriptural  references  to  physical  phe- 
nomena into  recognized  harmony  with  all  assured  results 
of  physical  science.  He  had  himself  been,  while  chiefly 
devoted  to  language  and  kindred  subjects,  an  eager  student 
of  various  physical  sciences.  During  his  first  years  as  pro- 
fessor in  Greenville,  he  made  earnest  attempts,  upon  one  or 
another  line  of  theory,  to  reconcile  the  existing  views  of 
geology  and  astronomy  with  Old  Testament  statements, 
and  afterwards  to  bring  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis  into 
harmony  with  the  current  ethnological  views.  None  of 
these  attempts  were  entirely  satisfactory  to  his  own  mind. 
Some  persons  think  that  such  theoretical  reconciliation 
between  sciences  still  inchoate,  and  interpretations  still 
incomplete,  must  of  necessity  be  only  tentative,  and  the 
matters  left  to  grow  clearer  for  men  of  the  future.  But 
our  young  professor  could  not  be  content  without  every 
year  renewing  his  efforts.  About  that  time  appeared  the 
most  important  works  of  Darwin,  and  Dr.  Toy  became  a 
pronounced  evolutionist  and  Darwinian,  giving  once  a 
popular  lecture  in  Greenville  to  interpret  and  advocate 
Darwin's  views  of  the  origin  of  man.  About  the  same 
time  he  became  acquainted  with  Kuenen's  works  on  the 
Old  Testament,  presenting  the  now  well-known  evolu- 
tionist reconstruction  of  the  history  of  Israel,  and  reloca- 
tion of  the  leading  Old  Testament  documents.  These 
works,  and  kindred  materials  coming  from  Wellhausen  and 
others  in  Germany,  profoundly  interested  Dr.  Toy.  They 
reconciled  Old  Testament  history  with  the  evolutionary 
principles  to  which  he  had  become  attached  in  the  study 
of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Darwin.  If  the  Darwinian  theory 
of  the  origin  of  man  has  been  accepted,  then  it  becomes 
easy  to  conclude  that  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  by  no 
means  true  history.  From  this  starting-point,  and  pressed 
by  a  desire  to   reconstruct    the    history  on  evolutionary 


IN  THE   SEMINARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  261 

principles,  one  might  easily  persuade  himself  that  in 
numerous  other  cases  of  apparent  conflict  between  Old 
Testament  statements  and  the  accredited  results  of  various 
sciences  the  conflict  is  real,  and  the  Old  Testament  account 
is  incorrect.  This  persuasion  would  seem  to  the  critic  to 
justify  his  removing  various  books  and  portions  of  books 
into  other  periods  of  the  history  of  Israel,  so  as  to  make  that 
history  a  regular  evolution  from  simpler  to  more  complex. 
For  example,  it  is  held  that  the  laws  of  Moses  cannot  have 
arisen  in  that  early  and  simpler  stage  of  Israelitish  history 
to  which  Moses  belonged,  but  only  in  a  much  later  and 
more  highly  developed  period,  —  all  of  which  might  look 
reasonable  enough  if  we  leave  the  supernatural  out  of  view. 
Then  the  passion  grows  stronger  for  so  re-locating  and 
reconstructing  as  to  make  everything  in  the  history  of 
Israel  a  mere  natural  evolution;  and  the  tendency  of  this, 
if  logically  and  fearlessly  carried  through,  must  be  to 
exclude  the  supernatural  from  that  history  altogether. 
These  views  would  of  course  be  supported  hy  certain  well- 
known  theories  to  the  effect  that  the  first  six  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  were  put  together  out  of  several  different 
documents,  as  indicated  by  certain  leading  terms,  and 
other  characteristic  marks  of  style  and  tone. 

Near  the  end  of  the  Seminary's  first  session  at  Louisville 
it  became  known  to  his  colleagues  that  Professor  Toy  had 
been  teaching  some  views  in  conflict  with  the  full  inspir- 
ation and  accuracy  of  the  Old  Testament  writings.  By 
inquiry  of  him,  it  was  learned  that  he  had  gone  very  far 
in  the  adoption  and  varied  application  of  the  evolutionary 
theories  above  indicated.  Dr.  Boyce  was  not  only  himself 
opposed,  most  squarely  and  strongly-,  to  all  such  views,  but 
he  well  knew  that  nothing  of  that  kind  could  be  taught 
in  the  Seminary  without  doing  violence  to  its  aims  and 
objects,  and  giving  the  gravest  offence  to  its  sujiporters  in 
general.  Duty  to  the  founders  of  the  institution  and  to 
all  who  had  given  money  for  its  support  and  endowment, 


262  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

duty  to  the  Baptist  churches  from  whom  its  students  must 
come,  required  him  to  see  to  it  that  such  teaching  should 
not  continue.  From  the  first  he  saw  all  this  clearly,  and 
felt  it  deeply.  Anxious  to  avoid  anything  that  might 
look  like  an  official  inquisition,  he  laid  these  convictions 
before  Dr.  Toy  through  a  colleague  who  had  been  the  lat- 
ter's  intimate  friend  from  his  youth.  Dr.  Toy  was  fully 
convinced  that  the  views  he  had  adopted  were  correct,  and 
would,  by  removing  many  intellectual  difficulties,  greatly 
promote  faith  in  the  Scriptures.  Besides  opposing  that 
opinion,  it  was  urged-  upon  his  consideration  that  these 
ideas  could  not  be  taught  in  the  Seminary,  and  moreover 
that  the  great  majority  of  the  students  were  quite  unpre- 
pared for  fitting  examination  of  any  such  theoretical 
inquiries,  and  needed  to  be  instructed  in  the  Old  Testament 
history  as  it  stands.  He  was  entreated  to  let  those  theo- 
retical questions  alone,  and  teach  the  students  what  they 
needed.  He  promised  to  do  this ;  and  in  entering  upon 
the  next  session,  of  course  tried  faithfully  to  keep  his 
promise.  It  was  fondly  hoped  b}^  his  colleagues  that  in 
quietly  pursuing  such  a  course  he  might  ultimately  break 
away  from  the  dominion  of  destructive  theories.  But 
some  students  had  become  aware  of  ideas  he  had  taught  the 
previous  session,  which  excited  their  curiosity,  and  kept 
asking  questions  which  he  felt  bound  to  answer.  So,  as 
the  session  went  on,  he  frankly  stated  that  he  found  it 
impossible  to  leave  out  those  inquiries,  or  abstain  from 
teaching  the  opinions  he  held. 

It  was  hard  for  Dr.  Toy  to  realize  that  such  teaching 
was  quite  out  of  the  question  in  this  institution.  He  was 
satisfied  that  his  views  would  promote  truth  and  piety. 
He  thought  strange  of  the  prediction  made  in  conversation 
that  within  twenty  years  he  would  utterly  discard  all  belief 
in  the  supernatural  as  an  element  of  Scripture, —  a  predic- 
tion founded  upon  knowledge  of  his  logical  consistency  and 
boldness,   and  already  in  a  much   shorter  time   fulfilled. 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  263 

to  judge  from  his  latest  works.  Some  of  us  are  persuaded 
that  if  any  man  adopts  the  evolutionary  reconstruction  of 
Old  Testament  history  and  literature,  and  does  not  reach 
a  like  attitude  as  regards  the  supernatural,  it  is  simjjly 
because  he  is  prevented,  by  temperament  or  environment, 
from  carrying  things  to  their  logical  results.  While  not 
himself  perceiving  that  the  opinions  he  was  teaching 
formed  a  just  ground  for  his  leaving  the  Seminary,  Dr. 
Toy  concluded  to  send  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  its 
approaching  session  in  Atlanta,  May,  1879,  a  statement  of 
the  views  that  he  had  adopted,  and  of  his  persuasion  that 
by  teaching  them  he  could  do  much  good;  and,  in  order  to 
relieve  the  Board  from  restraints  of  delicacy,  he  tendered 
his  resignation. 

After  due  consideration,  the  Board  voted  almost  unani- 
mously to  accept  the  resignation.  The  regret  at  this 
necessity  was  universal  and  profound,  and  perhaps  deeper 
in  the  Faculty  than  anywhere  else.  Dr.  Toy  had  shown 
himself  not  only  a  remarkable  scholar,  and  a  most  honor- 
able and  lovable  gentleman,  but  also  a  very  able  and  inspir- 
ing teacher,  and  a  colleague  with  whom,  as  to  all  personal 
relations,  it  was  delightful  to  be  associated.  Some  of  his 
attached  former  pupils  and  other  friends  thought  that 
there  was  no  necessity  for  losing  him,  and  that  his  views 
were  not  really  in  any  high  degree  objectionable,  and 
began  vehement  remonstrances  in  private  or  in  the  news- 
papers. This  proceeded  in  a  very  few  cases  from  sympathy 
with  his  opinions;  in  most  cases  from  lack  of  acquaintance 
with  the  real  nature  of  those  opinions  and  their  necessary 
outcome.  Dr,  Boyce's  personal  grief  at  the  loss  was  shown 
by  a  slight  but  impressive  incident.  When  Dr.  Toy 
returned  to  Louisville,  and  had  made  his  preparations 
to  leave,  his  two  colleagues  who  were  here  went  to  the 
railway  station.  The  three  happened  to  stand  for  a  little 
while  alone  in  a  waiting-room;  and  throwing  his  left  arm 
around  Toy's  neck.  Dr.  Boyce  lifted  the  right  arm  before 


264:  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

him,  and  said,  in  a  passion  of  grief,  ^'Oli,  Toy,  I  would 
freely  give  that  arm  to  be  cut  off  if  you  could  be  where 
you  were  five  years  ago,  and  stay  there." 

After  a  year  or  two  given  to  literary  pursuits  in  New 
York  city,  Dr.  Toy  was  elected  Professor  of  Hebrew  in 
Harvard  University.  A  letter  of  inquiry  from  the  cele- 
brated Ezra  Abbot  had  led  one  of  the  Louisville  professors 
to  send  a  most  cordial  recommendation,  with  the  explana- 
tion that  Dr.  Toy's  leaving  the  Seminary  was  due  to  noth- 
ing whatever  but  his  holding  views  like  those  of  Kuenen 
and  Wellhausen,  —  to  which  there  would,  of  course,  be  no 
objection  in  Harvard. 

To  the  now  vacant  chair  of  the  Old  Testament  the  Trus- 
tees elected  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  who,  after  serving  eight 
years  as  President  of  Georgetown  College,  was  willing  to 
resume  his  former  work  in  the  Seminary.  This  was  a 
great  consolation  to  the  other  professors,  who  had  never 
ceased  deeply  to  regret  his  departure;  while  the  known 
soundness  of  Dr.  Manly's  doctrinal  convictions,  with  his 
admirable  character  and  abilities,  awakened  a  general 
feeling  of  satisfaction  and  confidence.  His  Inaugural 
Lecture,  Sept.  1,  1879,  was  on  the  question,  "  Why  and 
How  to  Study  the  Bible.''  He  dwelt  on  the  different 
grades  of  ministerial  education,  and  urged  that  "the  one 
central  object  which  should  be  aimed  at  by  all  connected 
with  a  Theological  Seminary  is  a  2^^'cictical  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures.  ...  If  we  are  to  be  mighty  in  God's 
work,   we   must  be  mighty  in  God's  word." 

Por  several  years  before  leaving  the  Seminary,  in  1871, 
Dr.  Manly  had  made  considerable  annual  collections  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  such  students  as  needed  it  in  the 
matter  of  paying  their  board,  etc.  For  the  ensuing  eight 
years  this  task  had  been  performed  by  Dr.  Broadus.  The 
increasing  number  of  students  demanded  larger  collections, 
and  also  put  heavier  burdens  upon  the  Professor  of  Homi- 
letics,  in  the  correction  of  sermons  and  other  written  exer- 


IN  THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE.  265 

cises.  So  Dr.  Manly  now  resumed  the  charge  of  this 
*' Students'  Fund,"  and  on  this  account  was  asked  to 
teach  only  in  the  one  school  of  the  Old  Testament  (English 
and  Hebrew).  Professor  Whitsitt,  who  had  for  three  years 
been  the  actual  teacher  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  besides 
his  own  schools  of  Biblical  Introduction  and  Polemic  Theo- 
logy, was  now  formally  appointed  Professor  of  Ecclesiasti- 
cal History  also.  This  made  for  him  a  very  heavy  burden 
of  work;  but  he  performed  the  duties  with  ability  and 
devotion.  Dr.  Boyce  was  at  the  same  time  formally  re-ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Systematic  Theology,  which  he  had 
been  actually  teaching  during  the  two  years  at  Louisville, 
along  with  his  other  school  of  Church  Government  and 
Pastoral  Duties. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  ten  years  from  the  removal 
to  Louisville  until  his  health  began  to  fail  that  Dr.  Boyce 
most  fully  developed  and  exhibited  his  powers  as  a  teacher. 
From  the  tributes  paid  to  him  after  his  death  by  students 
of  this  period  the  following  utterances  may  be  taken. 
Eev.  E.  E.  Folk,  then  editor  of  the  ''Baptist  Eeflector," 
at  Chattanooga,  said:  ''He  was  a  great  teacher.  He 
could  get  more  hard,  solid  study  out  of  a  boy  than  any 
teacher  whose  classes  we  ever  had  the  privilege  of  attend- 
ing, with  possibly  one  or  two  exceptions.  You  had  to 
know  your  Systematic  Theologv,  or  you  could  not  recite  it 
to  Dr.  Boyce.  And  though  the  young  men  were  generally 
rank  Arminians  when  they  came  to  the  Seminary,  few 
went  through  this  course  under  him  without  being  con- 
verted to  his  strong  Calvinistic  views."  During  an 
informal  meeting  held  at  the  Seminary  upon  receiving 
news  of  Dr.  Boyce's  death  in  Europe,  among  various  brief 
addresses  Dr.  M.  D.  Jeffries,  pastor  in  Louisville,  said: 
"Dr.  Boyce  was  a  ceaseless  worker.  There  were  doubts 
and  discussions  among  the  students  on  points  of  doctrine, 
which  he  could  most  happily  allay.  To  him  is  largely  due 
the  vigorous  adherence  to  the  old  doctrines  on  the  part  of 


26G  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

the  Baptist  ministry."  Eev.  F.  D.  Hale,  also  pastor  in 
Louisville,  spoke  of  Dr.  Boj^ce's  '^silent  influence  over 
him  as  a  student.  When  he  began  Boyce's  Systematic 
Theology,  it  threw  him  into  great  perplexity  as  to  doc- 
trine. But  he  found  it  all  of  inestimable  value.  He  had 
learned  to  have  more  faith  in  God  and  to  take  in  the  sys- 
tem of  Christianity  as  a  whole ;  and  he  had  gained  such  a 
firm  hold  of  the  old  doctrines  of  grace  as  he  never  had  be- 
fore, by  studying  under  Dr.  Boyce.  He  had  also  learned 
at  his  feet  to  love  the  work,  and  to  sympathize  with  lost 
souls.  He  had  a  joy,  a  zeal,  a  hope,  a  faith,  and  a  love 
for  the  old  gospel  he  would  never  have  had  but  for  Dr. 
Boyce."  Let  us  add  the  following  from  Dr.  J.  William 
Jones,  a  student  of  the  Seminary's  first  session  (1859- 
1860):  "As  a  teacher.  Dr.  Boyce  greatly  impressed  me. 
I  found  very  irksome  at  first  his  system  of  requiring  the 
student  to  give  a  minute  analysis  of  the  lesson  in  Dick's 
Theology,  which  was  then  his  leading  text-book;  but  I 
soon  got  used  to  it,  and  many  a  time  since  I  have  had 
occasion  to  thank  God  and  to  thank  my  old  professor  for 
the  thorough  drill  he  gave  us  in  the  doctrines  of  God's 
Word."  Dr.  Jones  adds  that  in  later  years  he  once 
delivered  a  message  to  Dr.  Boyce  from  one  of  his  more 
recent  graduates,  who  was  laboring  in  a  region  where  the 
so-called  ''New  Theology,"  ''advanced  thought,"  "lib- 
eralism," and  loose  views  generally  were  painfully  com- 
mon. The  message  was:  "Tell  Dr.  Boyce,  with  my 
love,  that  since  I  have  been  here  I  have  thanked  him  a 
thousand  times  for  his  faithful  teaching  and  thorough 
drill  in  Systematic  Theology.  What  I  learned  of  him  has 
proven  a  healthy  tonic  in  a  malarious  atmosphere."  He 
says  that  "the  great  teacher's  face  lighted  up"  on  receiv- 
ing the  message,  and  he  replied,  "I  warmly  appreciate 
this.  It  is  a  very  high  gratification  to  me  that  during 
my  life  as  teacher  I  have  been  enabled  to  do  something 
towards  holding   our  boys   in   the    'old   paths'   of   God's 


IN  THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE.  207 

Word,  and  so  drilling  them  in  the  Old  Theology  of  the 
inspired  Book  that  they  are  not  carried  away  by  every 
wind  of  doctrine  that  blows  in  these  days  of  'Isms."  Dr. 
Jones  adds  that  in  his  wide  travelling  as  a  Mission  Secre- 
tary, meeting  a  very  large  number  of  former  students  of  the 
Seminary,  hearing  them  preach  or  freely  conversing  with 
them,  he  has  found  them,  as  a  rule,  ''not  only  effective 
preachers  and  efficient  pastors,  but  sound  to  the  core  in 
their  theology.  Dr.  Boyce  has  left  his  impress  upon  his 
students,  and  will  speak  through  them  as  the  years  go 
on." 

The  method  of  teaching  to  which  these  brethren  have 
referred  had  been  (as  we  have  previousl}^  remarked)  derived 
by  him  from  the  great  President  Wayland,  many  of  whose 
pupils  have  adopted  the  same  method,  developing  it  with 
much  individual  variety.  In  Dr.  Boyce's  hands  it  required 
that  the  students  should  analyze  every  paragraph  of  the 
lesson  in  the  text-book,  and  be  ready  when  called  on, 
without  questions  from  the  teacher,  to  take  up  one  para- 
graph after  another,  and  state  clearlj^,  in  their  own  words, 
its  line  of  thought  or  argument.  Numerous  students  have 
complained  of  this  rigorous  requirement  in  the  early  part 
of  every  session,  but  they  have  very  generally  rejoiced  at  a 
later  period,  in  having  acquired  such  thorough  familiarity 
with  Scripture  doctrine,  and  having  gained  a  facult}^  for 
like  study  of  other  books  as  they  might  see  proper  in 
coming  life.  The  danger  of  this  method  is  that  it  may 
degenerate  into  little  more  than  memorizing  of  the  text- 
book or  lecture.  The  teacher  has  to  resist  this  tendency. 
The  better-trained  students  soon  begin  to  show  how  the 
thing  ought  to  be  done,  and  the  class  in  general  derive 
from  the  process  a  highly  valuable  intellectual  discipline, 
as  well  as  a  thorough  and  familiar  acquaintance  with  doc- 
trinal truth,  with  the  leading  Scripture  proofs,  and  the 
principal  arguments  for  and  against  each  position, — an 
acquaintance  which  cannot  fail  to  prove  of  very  great  ad- 


2G8  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

vantage  in  all  their  life-long  preaching  and  study.  Dr. 
Boyce's  '^Abstract  of  Theology,"  of  which  we  are  to  speak 
in  a  subsequent  chapter,  was  prepared  as  a  text-book  for 
tliis  method  of  instruction.  His  successor.  Dr.  Kerfoot, 
had  himself  greatly  enjoyed  and  profited  by  this  kind  of  in- 
struction when  first  a  student  of  the  Seminary,  1869-1870, 
and  continues  to  follow  it  with  vigor  and  enthusiasm. 

By  advice  of  Dr.  Hodge  when  at  Princeton,  Boyce  had 
gained  some  acquaintance  with  the  masterly  treatise  on 
Theology  by  Erancis  Turrettin,  who  taught  in  Geneva, 
1653-1687.  For  one  who  sympathizes  with  what  we  call  the 
Calvinistic,  or  Augustinian,  type  of  Theology,  this  work  is 
in  certain  important  respects  unrivalled.  Many  a  subject 
is  presented  with  such  exact  analysis,  such  complete  state- 
ment, such  consummate  argumentation,  as  one  very  rarely 
encounters  in  the  noblest  writings.  Some  persons  call  the 
book  dry, —  an  epithet  which  not  a  few  appl}^  to  all  systema- 
tic theological  discussions ;  but  to  Dr.  Boyce  it  was  simply 
delightful.  It  gratified  his  taste  for  analysis,  it  satisfied 
liis  Calvinistic  convictions,  its  energetic  and  forcible  exhi- 
bitions of  truth  awakened  in  him  practical  as  well  as 
intellectual  sympathy.  From  the  foundation  of  the  Semi- 
nary it  had  been  his  favorite  idea  that  as  in  the  study 
of  Scripture  there  were  separate  classes  in  English  and 
Hebrew,  and  in  English  and  Greek,  so  in  Theology  there 
should  be  separate  classes,  using  English  and  Latin  text- 
books. While  the  chief  instruction  in  Theology  should  be 
brought  within  reach  of  intelligent  men  having  only  an 
English  education,  there  should  be  a  separate  class  for  men 
acquainted  with  Latin,  and  desiring  to  make  wider  and 
deeper  study  by  means  of  Latin  text-books.  During  the 
first  sessions  he  used  Turrettin  alone;  but  soon  began  to 
add  some  treatises  from  Tertullian  and  Augustine,  with 
Anselm's  "  Cur  Deus  Homo."  After  getting  fairly  to  work 
again  at  Louisville,  he  transferred  such  reading  of  Latin 
Fathers,  etc.,  to  a  ^'  special  class  "  of  Patristic  Latin,  such 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  200 

as  had  long  existed  for  Patristic  Greek,  and  began  to  com- 
bine with  Turrettin  a  good  deal  of  reading  in  the  "  Siimma 
Theologize  "  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  is  recognized  as  one 
of  the  foremost  philosophical  and  theological  thinkers,  and 
of  late  years  has  been  recommended  anew  by  the  present 
Pope  for  Roman  Catholic  students.  A  few  of  Dr.  Boyce's 
students  heartil}'-  sympathized  with  his  delight  in  these 
great  authors ;  perhaps  a  good  many  worked  through  the 
course  in  "Latin  Theology"  only  because  it  was  necessary 
to  the  degree  of  Full  Graduate.  Of  late  there  are  signs  of 
growing  interest  in  this  department,  such  as  Dr.  Boyce 
fondly  hoped  would  arise  in  the  course  of  years. 

The  subject  of  Church  Government  he  also  found  quite 
congenial.  Not  content  with  discussing  Baptist  views  of 
the  constitution  and  government  of  a  church,  he  took  a 
wide  range,  exhibiting  the  great  Roman  Catholic  system, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  products  of  the 
Roman  genius  for  organization  and  government;  and  so 
as  to  various  other  systems.  The  theory  and  practice  of 
church  government  appealed  to  both  sides  of  his  nature, 
as  a  scholar  and  thinker  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
a  statesman  and  a  man  of  business.  In  teaching  Pastoral 
Duties,  his  admirable  good  sense,  good  feeling,  and  good 
taste  availed  much,  though  he  had  never  had  experience 
of  a  large  pastorate.  In  adding  to  this  branch  a  course  of 
instruction  in  Parliamentary  Practice,  with  jMell's  excel- 
lent little  volume  as  a  text-book,  Dr.  Boyce  was  at  his  best, 
and  the  course  has  proved  of  real  value  to  the  students. 
aS"ot  only  our  Baptist  Conventions  and  Associations,  but 
every  Baptist  church-meeting  must  be  dealt  with  as  a  free 
popular  assembly,  and  it  becomes  highly  important  that 
our  pastors  should  have  such  genuine  acquaintance,  not 
only  with  ''rules  of  order,"  but  with  the  principles  in- 
volved, as  will  prepare  them  to  conduct  tlie  meetings 
with  easy  and  quiet  movement,  and  with  fairness  to  all 
concerned.       An  arbitrar}^  presiding  officer   may  seem   to 


270  MEMOIR   OF   JAMES  P.  BOfCE. 

expedite  business,  but  will  inevitably  sometimes  be  unjust 
to  one  or  another  member  of  the  assembly.  A  'kittle 
learning"  as  to  rules  of  order  will  often  promote  only 
fussy  wrangling,  and  waste  of  time  and  temper.  The  sub- 
ject needs  to  be  really  studied,  though  it  is  not  difficult, 
nor  very  extensive.  There  has  been  marked  improvement 
in  our  Baptist  conventions  and  churches  as  to  this  matter 
during  the  past  forty  years,  and  there  is  room  and  hope  for 
a  yet  more  general  and  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
proper  conduct  of  popular  assemblies. 

Besides  his  ever  insatiable  longing  for  extensive  knowl- 
edge and  varied  reading,  Dr.  Boj^ce  gladl}'-  turned  his 
attention  to  various  branches  of  study  which  might  contri- 
bute to  success  in  his  own  lines  of  teaching.  He  went  to 
w^ork  at  the  German  language  when  fifty  years  old,  and 
was  soon  able  to  make  some  use  of  German  works  on  The- 
ology. He  attended,  a  year  or  two  later,  the  full  course 
of  instruction  in  the  Senior  Greek  class  of  the  Seminary, 
preparing  every  lesson  and  listening  with  steady  interest, 
asking  questions  and  taking  notes.  He  was  especially 
interested  in  Text-criticism  as  applied  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  an  English  professor  has  declared  to  be  nearer 
an  exact  science  than  any  other  department  of  theological 
study.  When  the  second  volume  of  Westcott  and  Hort's 
Greek  Testament  appeared,  containing  their  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  text-criticism,  he  went  carefully  through  it,  though 
the  style  is  difficult,  and  mastered  with  great  satisfaction 
its  scientific  method  and  interesting  results.  Ah,  if  only 
the  Seminary's  finances  had  reached  a  satisfactory  condi- 
tion, if  he  had  not  been  carried  away  so  often  on  long 
journeys  still,  and  burdened  while  at  home  with  practical 
difficulties,  how  eagerly  he  would  have  gone  on  widen- 
ing and  deepening  his  knowledge  with  every  advancing 
year! 

But  the  financial  situation  was  far  from  satisfactory. 
The  plan  had  been  to  raise  $300^000  in   Kentucky  for 


IX  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  271 

endowment,  and  $200,000  in  other  States.  For  reasons 
heretofore  explained,  it  was  found  necessary  to  make  the 
removal  to  Louisville  before  either.of  these  amounts  had 
been  fully  subscribed.  The  annual  expenses  were  unavoid- 
ably increased  by  removal  to  a  large  city.  The  students 
themselves  lived  more  cheaply  than  before,  but  the  rent  of 
the  hotel  occupied  by  them,  and  of  the  rooms  necessary  for 
instruction  and  library,  cost  heavily.  House-rent  must 
also  be  provided  for  the  professors  who  had  families. 
Several  agents  had  to  be  supported,  who  were  occupied  in 
efforts  to  complete  the  subscription  of  endowment,  and  to 
collect  the  annual  payments  already  due.  These  agents 
must  necessarily  be  men  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and 
influence,  with  good  salaries,  and  their  wide  travelling 
added  no  little  to  the  expense.  Meantime,  many  of  the 
payments  due  for  endowment  had  not  been  made.  Some 
persons  thought  the  Seminary  was  now  successfully  estab- 
lished at  Louisville,  and  all  would  be  well,  so  that  they 
need  not  incommode  themselves  about  prompt  pa3'^ment. 
It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  searching  out,  and  in  fact 
no  one  but  Dr.  Boyce  ever  knew,  the  great  variety  of  dif- 
ficulties and  objections  that  stood  in  the  way  of  payment. 
Thus  it  was  impossible  in  the  first  years  at  Louisville  to 
get  such  a  sum  invested  as  would  yield  anything  like  an 
adequate  income.  There  were  a  good  many  outstanding 
five-year  bonds  for  annual  support  still  unpaid,  but  they 
also  were  in  not  a  few  cases  hard  to  collect.  Moreover,  as 
Dr.  Boyce  had  settled  down  to  teaching  again,  and  could 
seldom  spare  time  for  long  journey's  and  personal  applica- 
tions, many  persons  took  for  granted  that  things  were 
somehow  getting  on  well  enough.  He  still  worked  hard  in 
vacation.  Thus,  in  June,  1879,  he  and  Dr.  Broadus  can- 
vassed the  city  of  Bichmond.  He  was  just  up  from  a  bad 
attack  of  gout,  and  weakened  by  the  medicine  that  relieved 
it,  so  that  we  had  to  ride  about;  yet  he  was  full  of  energy 
and  courtesy,  making  earnest  and  persevering  appeals  to 


272  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

all  who  could  be  reached.  But  the  work  as  a  whole  went 
on  slowly.  It  became  impossible  to  avoid  using  a  portion 
of  the  funds  designed  for  endowment  in  providing  for  the 
annual  support  of  professors  and  agents.  This  is  always 
a  painful  necessity  for  persons  devoted  to  the  establishment 
of  a  new  enterprise.  Dr.  Boyce  felt  it  keenl}^,  deplored 
it,  but  nothing  else  seemed  possible. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  third  session  at  Louis- 
ville, when  Dr.  Manly  had  returned,  and  Dr.  Boyce  had 
been  formally  reappointed  Professor  of  Systematic  The- 
ology, and  the  way  seemed  open  for  happy  work  and 
growing  prosperity,  it  became  apparent  to  his  business  eye 
that  financially  the  Seminary  was  going  to  ruin.  ^  The 
salaries  were  inadequate,  and  could  not  possibly  be  lowered. 
The  faculty  had  been  cut  down  to  four  professors  again 
after  the  death  of  Dr.  Williams,  and  some  of  them  were 
gravely  burdened  with  their  work.  The  agents  were 
indispensable,  and  so  much  of  the  money  coming  in  had  to 
be  used  for  expenses  that  there  seemed  no  reasonable  hope 
of  investing  an  adequate  endowment.  About  the  end  of 
the  year  1879  Dr.  Boyce  explained  this  situation  to  his 
colleagues.  The  Seminary  could  struggle  on  in  that 
fashion  for  several  years,  but  the  generous  donors  would 
assuredly  have  a  right  to  complain  if  their  gifts  were  used 
up  for  current  expenses.  He  saw  no  hope  of  effecting  a 
permanent  endowment  unless  some  person  could  be  found 
to  give  a  new  impetus  to  the  whole  movement  by  person- 
ally contributing  $50,000  for  the  endowment  of  a  chair. 
He  definitely  proposed  that  the  professors  should  make 
special  and  frequent  prayer  that  G-od  would  raise  up  some 
one  able  and  willing  to  give  the  $50,000.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Missionary  Society,  which  includes  all  the  students, 
he  asked  them  to  join  in  this  special  prayer  for  what  he 
represented  as  in  his  judgment  the  only  thing  that  could 
provide  for  the  Seminary's  permanent  existence  and  large 
usefulness.      He  spoke  with  deep  feeling:  his  heart  was 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT   LOUISVILLE.  275 

evidently  set  on  the  idea,  and  on  the  particular  sum  named. 
He  sent  a  few  lines  to  two  or  three  Baptist  papers,  express- 
ing the  hope  and  prayer  that  God  would  put  it  into  some- 
body's heart  to  make  this  gift.  He  would  talk  about  it 
when  meeting  any  one  of  the  professors,  and  they  would 
consider  whether  perhaps  this  or  that  person  might  prove 
to  be  the  one.  ''Man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity." 
He  had  done  all  that  seemed  possible  in  otlier  ways,  and 
could  see  no  wsLy  out  but  this. 

It  can  never  be  forgotten  with  what  a  radiant  and  yet 
tearful  face  he  came  a  few  weeks  later  into  a  colleague's 
study,  holding  out  an  open  letter,  and  sa3dng,  ''Here  is 
the  answer  to  our  prayer.^'  The  letter  was  from  Hon. 
Joseph  E.  Brown,  of  Georgia,  Ex-Governor  and  United 
States  Senator.  It  stated  that  he  had  for  some  time  been 
considering  the  propriety  of  making  a  large  gift  to  some 
institution  of  higher  education.  He  had  wished  that  one 
of  his  sons  might  feel  called  into  the  ministry;  and  as  that 
apparently  could  not  be,  he  felt  all  the  more  moved  to  help 
educate  the  sons  of  others  for  that  work.  He  had  seen 
Dr.  Boj'ce's  brief  note  in  the  "Index,"  and  would  be  glad 
to  have  him  arrange  a  visit  to  Atlanta  at  his  expense,  and 
explain  the  exact  financial  situation  and  prospects  of  the 
Seminary,  so  that  he  might  decide  whether  it  would  be 
safe  and  wise  to  invest  in  its  endowment.  Within  a  few 
days  Boyce  had  gone  and  returned,  bringing  the  $50,000 
in  cash  and  first-class  securities.  Ah,  was  not  that  an 
answer  to  prayer?  Eor  years  Providence  had  been  leading 
the  man  and  the  movement,  and  now  Providence  had 
brought  them  together.     The  gift  was  made  Feb.  11,  1880. 

Now  the  question  was  how  to  secure  other  gifts,  which, 
united  with  the  funds  already  invested,  would  yield  the 
income  necessary.  At  this  point  Mr.  George  W.  Norton, 
of  Louisville,  took  the  matter  in  hand,  bringing  to  bear 
upon  it  his  extraordinary  business  talent.  He  and  his 
excellent   brother  and  partner    in    private  banking,   Mr. 

18 


274  MEMOIR   OP  JAxMES  P.   BOYCE. 

William  F.  Xorton,  had  already  made  generous  gifts  for 
the  Seminary.  The  point  was  to  give  more  in  such  a  way 
as  might  insure  its  speedily  obtaining  at  least  $200,000 
of  invested  funds.  Mr.  Norton  suggested  an  amendment 
to  the  charter,  requiring  that  the  principal  of  all  contribu- 
tions for  endowment  made  since  Feb.  1,  1880,  be  held 
forever  sacred  and  inviolate,  only  the  income  to  be  expended, 

and  if  any  part  of  the  principal  were  used  for  expenses, 

then  the  whole  should  revert  to  the  donors,  —  and  that  a 
Financial  Board  of  five  business  men  in  Louisville  should 
be   elected  every  year  to  invest   the  principal,   hold  the 
securities,  and  pay  over  the  income  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Seminary.     Mr.  Norton's  idea  was  that  no  Treasurer  or 
Board  of  Trustees  would  be  sure  always  to  resist  the  pres- 
sure of  urgent  need,  and  it  was   necessary  to  arrange  so 
that  the  principal  absolutely  could  not  be  drawn  upon  for 
expenses.     Such  an  amendment  to  the  charter  passed  the 
Legislature  of   Kentuck}^,   and  was   approved  March  31, 
1880.     Thereupon  the  Messrs.  Norton  offered  to  give  each 
a  verj"  generous  sum  towards  the  proposed  $200,000.     New 
heart  was  at  once  put  into  the  Seminary's  more  devoted 
friends,  and  Dr.  Boyce  began  fresh  efforts,  as  far  as  the 
pressing  duties  of  a  teacher  would  possibly  allow,  to  obtain 
new  gifts    and  collect  outstanding  obligations.      One  of 
the  professors  had  done  a  good  deal  of  summer  preaching 
in  New  York  and  vicinity,  and  now  went  to  seek  contribu- 
tions in  that  city.    The  result,  after  anxious  and  prolonged 
effort,  was  a  subscription  of  nearly  $40,000,  all  duly  paid, 
of  course,  except  about  one  fourth,  prevented  by  a  business 
failure.     These  generous   gifts  of  several  noble  men  and 
women  in  New  York  were  another  special  providence  in  the 
Seminary's  time  of  peril.     In  the  course  of  some  two  years 
the  proposed  $200,000  was  received  and  invested,  and  the 
institution  was  no  longer  in  danger  of  perishing,  though 
a  much   larger  endowment  must  of  course  be    earnestly 
sought,  and  through  the  toiling  years  Dr.  Boyce  continued 
to  seek  it. 


IN   THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE.  li.o 

For  several  years  the  number  of  students  was  between 
ninety  and  a  hundred.  This  made  it  a  laborious  task  to 
correct  the  written  exercises  necessary  in  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  classes,  and  still  more  to  deal  with  the  written  exer- 
cises in  Homiletics.  Besides,  the  health  of  Professor 
Whitsitt  had  been  seriously  impaired  by  the  too  heavy 
burden  of  teaching  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  at  the  same 
time  Biblical  Introduction  and  Polemic  Theology.  The 
treasury  could  not  afford  another  professor.  The  Trustees 
authorized  the  Faculty  to  appoint  for  the  session  1881-1882 
an  assistant  instructor  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Homiletics. 
The  choice  fell  on  Rev.  George  W.  Riggan,  of  Virginia,  a 
Master  of  Arts  of  Richmond  College,  and  a  Full  Graduate 
of  the  Seminary's  previous  session.  His  conspicuous  abili- 
ties, and  enthusiasm  in  learning  and  teaching,  made  him 
a  very  valuable  helper,  and  he  grew  rapidly  in  power  and 
influence  till  his  early  death  a  few  years  later.  After  two 
years  he  was  advanced  to  be  assistant-professor,  and  on 
Oct.  1,  1883,  delivered  a  vigorous  and  suggestive  inau- 
gural address  on  ''The  Preacher's  Adaptation  to  his  Intel- 
lectual Environment."  Through  having  Mr.  Riggan's 
help  in  teaching  Hebrew,  Dr.  Manl}'^  was  able  to  resume 
the  school  of  Biblical  Introduction,  which  he  had  taught 
up  to  the  time  of  leaving  the  Seminary  in  1871;  thus  Dr. 
Whitsitt  also  was  considerably  relieved,  and  after  some 
years  his  health  greatly  improved. 

The  addition  to  the  teaching  force  came  in  good  time, 
for  in  the  session  1882-1883  the  number  of  students  rose  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  —  the  largest  previous  number 
having  been  ninety-six.  Then  it  fell  off  somewhat  for  sev- 
eral years;  but  in  1886-1887  was  again  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five,  and  in  1887-1888  rose  to  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven.  Dr.  Boyce  believed  in  that  last  session  during 
which  he  was  present  that  the  number  would  go  on  increas- 
ing, as  it  has  done. 

But  the  increasing  number  of  students  only  rendered 


276  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

more  manifest  the  need  of  buildings,  since  the  rent  of  a 
sutticiently  large  hotel  and  other  adjacent  rooms  was  cost- 
ing more  and  more.  The  amount  invested  did  not  yield 
enough  to  support  the  Faculty  and  other  officials,  to  say 
nothing  of  agents.  Large  sums  were  outstanding  in  old 
bonds  for  annual  support;  but  what  could  be  collected  upon 
these  seldom  amounted  to  more  than  enough  to  meet  the 
deficienc}'^  in  the  account  for  annual  exj^enses.  Everj^  now 
and  then,  Dr.  Boyce  would  grow  thoroughly  indignant  at 
the  failure  of  many  persons  to  make  annual  payments  for 
which  they  had  given  their  solemn  pledge  and  their  legal 
obligations.  During  the  session  1882-1883  he  made  up  his 
mind  that  such  persons  ought  to  be  sued  at  law.  He  wrote 
a  long  letter  to  one  of  the  agents  at  that  time  in  the  field, 
setting  forth  reasons  why  he  thought  this  ought  to  be  done. 
Dr.  'Boyce  had  a  high  sense  of  commercial  honor.  He  did 
not  at  all  sympathize  with  the  old-time  negligent  fashion 
of  many  planters  and  farmers,  bujdng  on  twelve  months' 
credit,  settling  then  if  convenient,  but  feeling  that  a  gen- 
tleman ought  not  to  be  harassed  about  pecuniary  obliga- 
tions which  he  did  not  at  the  time  find  it  convenient  to 
meet.  The  son  of  Ker  Boyce  had  all  the  instincts,  convic- 
tions, and  sentiments  of  a  merchant,  with  whom  failure  to 
pay  a  debt  was  almost  like  stealing.  It  seemed  to  him  an 
outrage  that  persons  who  had  given  him  a  bond  would 
coolly  go  on  neglecting  to  pa^^  it,  though  reminded  again 
and  again.  Nobody  can  question  that  the  widespread 
practice  of  pledging  contributions  to  religious  objects,  and 
then  failing  to  pay,  with  little  regret  and  no  feeling  of 
shame,  is  a  very  great  evil.  Dr.  Boyce  had  taken  pains 
to  put  contributions  into  the  form  of  notes  payable  in 
bank,  always  inserting  the  name  of  some  particular  bank 
indicated  by  the  contributor.  To  neglect  meeting  such 
obligations  at  maturity,  unless  really  impossible,  seemed 
to  him  a  point  of  personal  dishonor.  So  he  obtained 
authority  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  collect  these  bonds 


IX  THE   8EMIXARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  277 

by  process  of  law,  and  sent  large  quantities  of  them  to 
lawyers,  in  different  parts  of  the  Southern  country,  with 
directions  to  bring  suit  if  they  could  not  otherwise  collect. 
This  course  led  to  great  complaint  on  the  part  of  some 
persons  who  had  given  the  bonds.  Their  point  of  view, 
on  the  score  of  custom,  was  entirely  different  from  his,  and 
it  is  probable  that  each  part^^  did  the  other  some  injustice. 
However  invested  with  the  forms  of  legal  obligation,  and 
of  banking  exactness  and  punctuality,  the  donors  remem- 
bered that  all  this  was  really  a  promised  <jift;  and  if  they 
found  payment  inconvenient,  some  of  them  regarded  legal 
proceedings  as  offensive  and  unjust.  There  were  those 
among  Dr.  Boyce's  most  intimate  associates  who  always 
considered  his  course  in  this  matter  a  mistake  of  judg- 
ment. Similar  efforts  to  collect  by  legal  process  have 
been  made  in  the  history  of  several  institutions,  and  they 
appear  to  have  generally  awakened  an  irritation,  if  not 
hostilit}'-,  among  givers,  which  more  than  counterbalanced 
the  financial  gain.  Yet  no  one  who  knew  Dr.  Boyce  can 
ever  have  questioned  for  a  moment  that  the  measures 
adopted  were  in  his  estimation  thoroughly  just  to  others, 
and  required  of  him  by  his  official  duty.  And  let  us  not 
turn  away  from  the  subject  without  remembering  how  sur- 
passingly important  it  is  to  cure,  by  all  judicious  repre- 
sentations, the  practice  of  making  pledges  for  benevolent 
objects,  and  neglecting  to  pay. 

It  was  probably  in  the  session  of  1883-1884  that  Dr. 
Boyce  began  to  look  around  for  a  suitable  location  in  which 
Seminary  buildings  might  be  erected.  A  committee  of 
fifteen  had  been  appointed  by  the  Trustees,  consisting 
of  the  Faculty  and  a  number  of  leading  business  men 
of  Louisville,  to  decide  upon  the  best  location.  Many 
thought,  very  naturally,  that  it  would  be  wise  to  place 
the  Seminary  a  few  miles  out,  where  one  or  two  hundred 
acres  of  ground  could  be  purchased  for  a  moderate  sum, 
and  when  the  city  should  grow  out  and  around,  this  land 


278  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

would  make  the  institution  wealth^',  as  has  taken  place  in 
the  history  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  and  several 
other  institutions.  A  majority  of  the  committee  favored 
the  choice  of  some  such  location  for  the  Seminary,  while 
others  urged  very  important  reasons  for  preferring  to  place 
it  in  the  heart  of  the  cit3\  Here  it  would  be  frequently 
observed  by  its  friends,  would  seem  near  to  them,  and  thus 
more  readily  command  their  liberal  support.  Here  the 
students  would  not  form  a  community  apart,  but  would 
attend  the  city  churches  and  Sundaj^-schools,  and  easily 
visit  in  the  city  families,  to  their  great  benefit  in  various 
waj'-s;  and  being  near  the  railway  stations,  they  could 
much  more  easily  strike  out  on  Saturday  afternoon  to 
preach  at  churches  in  every  direction,  and  returning  on 
the  early  trains  of  Monday,  go  promptly  to  the  lecture- 
rooms.  Some  of  us  were  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  banishing 
the  Seminary  from  all  these  present  advantages  for  the 
sake  of  a  possible  financial  gain  in  the  far  future.  In  point 
of  fact  the  honored  brethren  who  favored  an  outside  loca- 
tion could  never  agree  in  opinion  as  to  whether  we^should 
go  out  to  the  east,  or  the  south,  or  the  west,  it  being  quite 
difficult  to  foresee  in  which  direction  the  city  would  most 
surely  and  rapidly  grow.  The  matter  hung  fire  for  many 
months.  At  length  Dr.  Boyce  ascertained  that  some  lots 
in  the  heart  of  the  city,  on  Broadway  between  Fourth  and 
Fifth  Avenues,  could  be  purchased.  Then  by  judicious 
inquiry  he  learned  that  other  lots  nearl}^  adjacent,  fronting 
on  Fifth  Street,  might  also  be  bought.  Getting  the  con- 
sent of  the  committee,  he  quietl}^  purchased  these  lots 
from  their  various  owners  at  moderate  rates,  explaining  to 
his  associates  how  they  could  be  combined  into  adequate 
grounds  for  the  Seminar3^  This  process  settled  the  ques- 
tion of  location;  and  the  wisdom  and  business  tact  with 
which  he  had  carried  the  matter  through  commanded  the 
hearty  approval  and  admiration  of  the  business  men  on  the 
committee. 


IX  THE  SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  279 

But  sufficient  land  in  that  central  location  was  going  to 
cost  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Part  of  it  must  be 
paid  at  once,  and  other  sums  must  be  collected  within  a 
year  or  two,  while  still  the  endowment  was  far  from  ade- 
quate, and  the  annual  expenses  hard  to  meet.  Ever^^body 
agreed  that  the  lot  was  exceedingly  well  chosen.  A  prom- 
inent owner  of  real  estate  in  the  city,  to  whom  it  was  one 
day  pointed  out,  and  whose  wife  was  a  Baptist,  said  em- 
phatically, "Why,  Dr. ,  you  have  the  best  lot  for 

a  public  building  in  the  city  of  Louisville;  and  I  '11  give 
you  five  hundred  dollars  to  help  pay  for  it."  One  of  the 
most  eminent  Baptists  in  the  city,  known  to  be  very  wise 
in  his  management  of  real  estate,  who  had  n-ever  favored 
tlie  removal  of  the  Seminary  to  Louisville,  and  had  never 
contributed  to  its  support,  because  doubtful  as  to  the  wis- 
dom of  theological  education  as  distinct  from  college 
education,  was  yet  so  pleased  with  the  selection  of  the 
location  that  he  spontaneously  proffered  a  thousand  dollars 
towards  paying  the  cost.  Several  generous  friends,  who 
had  already  contributed  largely,  took  hold  again  to  meet 
this  purchase.  But  still  the  mone}^  was  hard  to  ob- 
tain, and  Boyce's  soul  was  often  bowed  down  by  financial 
burdens  and  anxieties.  In  June,  1884,  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Broadus  (who  was  preaching  in  Brooklyn)  with  reference 
to  some  small  proposed  expenditure :  — 

'*  Besides,  we  are  going  to  be  hard  run.  I  intended  to  warn 
you  lest  you  should  purchase  any  hooks  for  the  Library  this  sum- 
mer. I  am  anxious  to  cut  down  Seminary  expenses.  ...  I  have 
yet  made  little  progress  further  than  when  you  left.  The  churches 
are  burdened  with  all  manner  of  appeals.  I  tell  you  I  fear  the 
people  will  begin  to  feel  that  the  preachers  and  their  projects  are 
nuisances." 

Yet  this  was  the  man  whom  some  people  represented  as 
fairly  loving  to  beg  for  money!  A  few  weeks  later  he 
wrote  an  earnest  appeal  to  his  friend  William  F.  Norton, 


280  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Esq.  (who  was  temporarily  out  of  town),  to  start  liim  with 
tweuty-five  hundred  dollars  towards  the  twenty  thousand 
he  had  to  raise  for  payment  on  the  lots. 

"  Getting  this  sum  is  really  going  to  be  fearful  work ;  yet  it  is 
necessary  to  get  it,  if  possible.  If  I  can  do  this,  then  the  hope  of 
huil.liugs  at  no  distant  future  may  he  reasonably  entertained. 
Witliout  it,  I  do  not  believe  I  shall  ever  see  the  day  when  these 
buildings  can  he  completed.  I  do  wish  before  I  die  to  see  the 
Seminary  fidly  equipped  and  at  work.  For  this  I  have  spent  my 
whole  life  thus  far,  and  am  willing  to  spend  the  remainder  if  I 
can  attain  the  end.  But  my  heart  often  sinks  within  me  at  the 
difficulties  to  be  overcome.  My  faith  in  the  enterprise  fails.  I 
begin  to  think  I  must  leave  it  incomplete,  for  some  other  man  to 
finish.  Oh  that  I  could  get  my  hrethren  to  see  its  possibilities  for 
good,  with  an  ample  endowment  I  I  know  it  could  do  ten  times  its 
present  work." 

He  goes  on  to  explain  that  the  time  has  arrived  for 
making  the  titles  to  the  lots,  and  the  payments  due  are 
indispensahle.  "The  matter  presses,  and  I  am  in  de- 
spair. Sometimes  I  am  right  sick  that  I  should  ever  have 
allowed  myself  to  he  caught  in  such  a  scrape."  Alas!  the 
great  heart  scarcely  ahle  at  times  to  hear  its  burden; 
the  noble  powers  prematurely  wearing  out  through  finan- 
cial exertions  and  anxieties,  constantly  hindering  the  work 
he  so  longed  to  do  as  student  and  teacher  and  author. 

There  were  kind  friends  to  help  forward  his  exertions, 
not  only  in  Louisville,  but  elsewhere  in  the  State  and 
country.  In  November  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Governor  Eobin- 
son,  of  Georgetown,  Ky.,  thanking  her  for  a  contribution, 
and  added :  "I  know  not  how  the  Seminary  could  ever  have 
been  established  without  the  kind  help  of  the  w^onien  of 
our  churches;  and  among  them  I  count  no  two  more  ear- 
nest and  self-sacrificing  than  yourself  and  Mrs.  Thomas. 
I  trust  we  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  here  soon. 
I  should  like  to  show  you  the  beautiful  location  we  have 
secured  for  our  buildings."     So  we  see  it  is  secured,  and 


IN   THE   SEMINARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  281 

it  is  beautiful.  But  much  of  the  purchase-mone}-  was  still 
to  be  obtained. 

Within  the  next  year  or  two  the  beloved  Dr.  Edward 
Judson  preached  a  number  of  days  in  Louisville,  at  the 
Broadway  Baptist  Church,  and  became  acquainted  with 
our  Theological  Seminary,  and  interested  in  its  struggles 
and  possibilities.  On  returning  to  New  York  he  spoke 
warmly  on  the  subject  to  one  and  another,  —  particularly 
to  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller.  Some  time  later,  Mr.  J.  A. 
Bostwick  passed  this  way  with  some  other  great  railroad 
men,  and  while  driving  round  in  Louisville,  a  Methodist 
gentleman,  Mr.  Carter,  pointed  out  the  lots  which  the 
Baptist  Seminary  had  purchased,  and  spoke  kindly  of  the 
institution.  Afterwards  Mr.  Bostwick  called  on  Mr.  Gr. 
W.  Norton,  talking  with  him  about  railroads  and  about 
the  Seminary.  These  several  occurrences  suggested  that 
it  might  be  possible  to  get  help  in  New  York  for  the 
erection  of  a  building.  A  professor  who  was  by  this  time 
prett}^  well  acquainted  in  New  York  went  again  to  seek 
such  aid.  Telegraphing  was  at  that  time  remarkably 
cheap,  especially  for  night  despatches,  and  Dr.  Boyce 
proposed  constant  communication. 

The  sum  desired  vi'&s  sixty  thousand  dollars.  'Mr. 
Bostwick,  at  the  first  interview,  agreed  to  give  fifteen 
thousand.  Upon  being  told  of  this  the  same  day,  Mr. 
John  D.  Rockefeller  cheerily  added  twenty-five  thousand. 
So  next  morning  Dr.  Boyce  knew  that  two  thirds  of  the 
amount  had  been  given,  but  more  than  half  on  condition 
(Mr.  Bostwick  being  averse  to  conditional  gifts)  that 
Boyce  should  at  once  raise  money  enough  to  finish  pay- 
ing for  the  land.  It  was  an  unpleasant  day  in  Louisville, 
but  he  turned  out,  lame  from  a  recent  attack  of  gout, 
saw  the  Nortons  and  Mr.  Theodore  Harris  and  others, 
and  telegraphed  that  night  that  he  had  the  money  in  cash 
promises,  —  nearly  thirty  thousand, —  but  on  condition 
that    the    remaining    twenty  thousand   for    the   building 


282  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

sliould  be  raised  in  Kew  York.  Sic  labor,  hoc  opus.  It 
took  nearly  three  weeks.  Manj^^  an  attempt  failed,  others 
dragged,  others  brought  but  little.  Hope  deferred  made 
tlie  heart  sick.  But  one  could  almost  hear  Boyce's  ringing 
voice  and  merrj^  laugh  as  he  would  telegraph,  night  after 
night:  '* Don't  think  of  coming  back  without  it.  Nobody 
wants  to  see  you  here.  Stay  all  winter,  if  necessarj^'' 
Slowly,  slowly!  A  telegram  of  twenty  words  was  only 
costing  fifteen  cents.  Boyce  knew  every  important  failure 
or  success,  and  kept  exhorting.  Several  who  thought  at 
first  they  could  not  help,  yet  consented  to  take  hold  to 
save  a  friend  from  defeat,  and  a  good  enterprise  from 
foundering  in  sight  of  land.  Blessings  on  all  the  gen- 
erous givers  and  wise  counsellors !  But  for  them,  and  but 
for  Boyce's  cheery  telegrams,  the  movement  would  have 
proved  a  failure.  Let  no  one  think  it  easy  to  obtain  large 
contributions  in  the  great  cities.  Many  applications  must 
necessarily  be  rejected.  Wise  and  conscientious  givers 
must  know  what  they  are  doing.  If  through  personal 
acquaintance  and  varied  information  they  are  satisfied 
tliat  here  is  a  really  promising  enterprise,  well  managed, 
and  heartily  supported  by  friends  right  around  it,  why, 
then  they  may  give,  —  or  they  may  not;  for  nobody  can 
be  always  giving,  and  every  one  must  judge  for  himself. 

When  it  was  announced  that  sixty  thousand  dollars  had 
been  contributed  in  New  York  to  erect  a  building  for  the 
Seminary,  Senator  Brown,  of  Georgia,  who  had  endowed 
the  professorship,  spontaneously  sent  five  thousand  for  the 
building.  New  York  Hall,  as  it  was  named,  really  cost 
nearlj^  ^ig^ty  thousand  dollars.  It  furnishes  dormitories 
for  about  two  hundred  students  (two  in  a  room),  with  a 
beautiful  dining-room  and  an  ample  culinary  department, 
and  also  professors'  offices  and  lecture-rooms,  so  arranged 
that  they  could  in  future  be  converted  into  dormitories 
whenever  other  buildings  should  be  erected.  There  is 
also   an   admirable    gymnasium.      Dr.    Manly    and    some 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  283 

honored  Baptist  laymen  gave  much  time  and  thought  to 
the  duties  of  a  huilding  committee.  May  Xew  York  Hall 
long  continue  to  remind  the  successive  generations  of  stu- 
dents that  the  Seminary  was  greatly  aided  in  its  early 
days  by  generous  gifts  from  the  great  metropolis. 

In  the  course  of  these  busy  years  as  student  and 
teacher,  and  these  toilsome  and  ever-renewed  exertions  to 
establish  the  Seminary's  finances,  Dr.  Boyce  was  in 
other  waj^s  also  quite  useful  as  a  citizen  of  Louisville. 
He  became  a  director  in  the  Louisville  Banking  Com- 
pany, which  the  President,  Mr.  Theodore  Harris,  has 
built  up  into  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  this 
part  of  the  country;  and  his  wise  counsels  as  a  business 
man  were  greatly  valued  in  that  and  other  enterprises. 
Again,  as  in  former  years,  he  had  inviting  offers  to  Tiigh 
business  positions  in  his  native  State.  One  invitation  was 
to  become  president  of  a  bank  in  Charleston,  — the  one 
over  which  his  father  had  so  long  presided,  —  with  a  salary 
of  seven  thousand  dollars.  During  the  same  year  he  was 
asked  to  become  president  of  the  Graniteville  Cotton  Fac- 
tory, near  Aiken,  S.  C,  in  which  his  father's  estate  had 
stock,  with  a  salarv  of  twelve  thousand  dollars.  He  might 
have  been  pastor  of  his  mother's  church  in  Charleston,  or 
of  some  church  in  Augusta,  doing  much  good,  and  having 
ample  opportunity  to  recover  all  that  he  had  lost  by  the  war; 
yet  he  declined  both  offers  so  quietly  that  few  of  even  his  in- 
timate friends  ever  heard  of  them.  A  year  or  two  later,  one 
of  Boyce's  colleagues  was  riding  in  a  buggy  with  a  friend 
in  the  Blue-grass,  who  remarked,  ^' Folks  in  our  neighbor- 
hood think  that  your  Seminary  professors  get  entirely  too 
big  salaries."  The  other,  in  reply,  mentioned  the  above 
two  offers,  and  asked  what  his  folks  would  think  of  Boyce's 
having  declined  such  invitations.  The  old  gentleman  said, 
with  great  naivete,  ''Oh,  they  wouldn't  believe  a  word  of 
it."  A  good  many  well-meaning  people  think  that  min- 
isters are  alwaj^s  ready  to  go  whore  they  can  have  a  larger 


284  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

salary,  and  little  do  they  know  of  the  invitations  often 
declined. 

Dr.  Boyce  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Slater  Fund,  from  its 
original  establishment,  — a  fund  now  exceeding  a  million, 
the  income  of  which  is  to  be  used  perpetually  for  the  pro- 
motion of  higher  education  among  the  colored  people  of 
the  South.  His  practical  wisdom  and  life-long  interest  in 
the  negroes  admirably  adapted  him  to  this  position,  and 
he  greatly  enjoyed  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  a 
distinguished  body  of  gentlemen. 

In  the  Broadway  Baptist  Church  of  Louisville,  Dr.  Boyce 
was  a  very  earnest,  faithful,  and  useful  member.  For  some 
years  he  taught  a  large  Bible  class  in  the  church  at  the 
Sunday-school  hour,  composed  of  students  and  many  other 
persons,  and  took  much  pains  to  prepare  the  lessons, 
which  became  really  lectures  to  quite  a  considerable  con- 
gregation. He  of  course  gave  a  very  hearty  support  in 
every  sense  to  the  pastor  and  other  officers,  as  a  resident 
minister  who  is  not  a  pastor  ought  always  to  do.  On  one 
occasion  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  oppose  earnestly  the 
wishes  of  the  beloved  pastor.  Dr.  J.  L.  Burrows.  A  highly 
esteemed  gentleman,  whose  father  had  been  a  Baptist,  had 
himself  been  baptized  by  a  Christian  (Campbellite)  min- 
ister, and  after  a  good  many  years  wished  to  join  the 
Broadway  Baptist  church,  but  did  not  wish  to  be  now 
baptized.  Dr.  Burrows  was  disposed  to  receive  him  upon 
his  former  baptism,  as  a  good  many  brethren  would  do,  in 
some  parts  of  the  country.  Dr.  Boyce  resisted  this,  steadily 
and  successfully,  and  took  pains  in  many  ways  to  show  at 
the  same  time  his  hearty  good  feeling  towards  the  pastor, 
w^ho  in  turn  acted  with  characteristic  magnanimity.^  Some 
years  later,  the  honored  gentleman  in  question  was  received 
into  another  Baptist  church  of  the  city,  and  baptized. 


1  This  noble,  eloquent,  and  widely  useful  minister  died  in  January, 
1893. 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  285 

In  1885,  April  14th,  Dr.  Boyce  and  liis  colleagues  were 
greatly  saddened  by  the  death  of  Assistant-Professor  Rig- 
gan,  who  had  now  been  their  colleague  for  nearly  four 
years.  His  remarkable  ability,  his  splendid  zeal  as  a 
student  and  a  teacher,  with  the  purity  and  unselfishness 
of  his  character,  had  greatly  endeared  him  to  professors 
and  students.  In  the  Blue-grass  church  of  which  lie  liad 
been  pastor  for  some  years,  there  were  intelligent  persons 
who  thought  him  the  ablest  preacher  they  had  ever  heard. 
His  sermons  often  contained  an  amount  of  profound  thought 
and  closely  linked  argument  which  most  people  would  not 
have  listened  to  but  for  the  kindling  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  spoke.  His  memory  will  long  continue  to  be 
an  inspiration.  One  of  the  Full  Graduates  of  that  session, 
and  previously  a  graduate  of  Howard  College,  Eev.  John 
B.  Sampe}',  of  Alabama,  was  appointed  assistant  instructor 
for  the  next  session;  and  as  the  increasing  number  of^tu- 
dents  kept  demanding  additional  help,  Bev.  A.  T.  Bobert- 
son,  of  North  Carolina,  also  a  Full  Graduate,  and  a  Wake 
Forest  man,  was  appointed  two  3'ears  later.  Each  of  them, 
after  two  years  of  service,  was  advanced  to  be  assistant- 
professor,  the  former  in  Old  Testament  and  Homiletics, 
and  the  latter  in  New  Testament  and  Homiletics.  Unable 
to  appoint  additional  full  professors,  through  lack  of  means 
for  support,  the  Seminary  was  exceedingl}-  fortunate  in 
securing  young  men  of  rare  ability  and  rich  promise. 

In  1885  Dr.  Boyce  was  cheered  by  a  bequest  from  D.  A. 
Chenault,  Esq.,  of  Madison  County,  Ky.,  of  $15,000,  the 
interest  of  which  was  to  be  used  for  helping  to  pay  the 
personal  expenses  of  needy  'students.  A  like  bequest  of 
$10,000  was  made  by  W.  F.  Norton,  Esq.,  of  Louisville, 
who  died  in  1886.  These  generous  gifts  made  a  permanent 
and  highly  valuable  addition  to  the  Seminary's  iinancial 
strength  at  a  point  of  constantly  increasing  pressure;  but 
this  did  not  relieve  Dr.  Boyce's  solicitude  as  to  procuring 
additional  endowment  for  the  support  of  the  instruction. 


286  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

In  all  the  latter  part  of  liis  life,  as  we  have  heretofore 
noticed,  he  was  so  burdened  with  the  business  of  the  Sem- 
inar}^, as  well  as  the  care  of  his  father's  estate,  that  his 
correspondence  was  mainly  restricted  to  business  letters. 
Yet  in  the  copies  preserved  in  letter-books  appear  many 
letters  to  his  sisters  and  his  nieces,  — often  accompanying 
birthday  gifts,  —  apt  to  be  quite  entertaining,  and  sure  to 
overflow  with  simple  and  earnest  expressions  of  personal 
affection.  Some  of  these  letters,  or  extracts  from  them, 
may  now  be  given :  — 

To  his  Sister,  Mrs.  BiircJcmyer,  Jan.  13,  1880. 

Thank  you  for  the  book ;  it  is  very  nice.  Every  now  and 
then,  yesterday  afternoon,  while  I  was  answering  some  letters  in 
my  wife's  room,  F.  would  exclaim,  ''This  is  so  good!"  ''How 
nice  this  is  I"  "How  beautifully  this  is  executed!"  etc.,  etc.,  as 
she'looked  over  the  pictures  of  the  book,  which,  after  looking  at 
it  awhile,  I  had  to  lay  aside  because  of  necessary  work.  When  I 
had  simply  said,  "  The  homes  of  England,"  F.  said  at  once,  "  '  The 
stately  homes  of  England,'  is  by  Mrs.  Hemans."  You  see  she  is 
somewhat  informed  in  literature.  The  fact  is,  the  young  folks  are 
getting  ahead  of  me.  I  was  badly  caught  last  night.  Hearing 
L.  referring  to  Green's  "  History  of  the  English  People,"  which 
the  women-folks  had  been  reading  until  they  came  to  Harold^  and 
then  stopped  at  my  wife's  suggestion  to  read  Bulwer's  "Harold," 
and  hearing  her  speak  of  Beda,  I  said,  "  Bede  "  (one  syllable). 
She  said  it  was  B^eda  in  the  book,  and  I  laughed  at  her,  thinking 
she  had  been  carried  off  by  mispronunciation,  and  said,  "  Well, 
l)ring  me  a  place  where  it  is  spelled  Bada,  and  I  will  give  you  a 
quarter."  In  five  minutes  she  came  with  Green,  and  I  had  the 
quarter  to  pay.  You  see  the  love  of  the  extreme  old  is  leading 
even  historians  to  take  Latin  names  for  their  English  equivalents. 
You  will  see  some  of  these  days,  when  the  encyclopaedias  begin 
to  mention  your  brother,  that  he  will  figure  as  Boethius,  or 
Boecius.  But  the  learning  of  the  day  is  getting  ahead  of  us  old 
folks.  I  have  long  had  to  stop  trying  to  teach  grammar  to  the 
children.  The  names  of  moods  and  tenses  and  cases,  etc.,  etc., 
and  the  characteristics  of  various  parts  of  speech  and  the  relations 


IX  THE    SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  287 

between  them,  are  to-day  designated  by  such  extra  scientific  terms 
that  I  cannot  talk  with  them.  Think  of  my  being  thus  cauglit 
on  the  Venerable  Bede,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  as 
"  green  "  as  that  historian  !  The  girls  all  laughed  at  me  because 
I  had  made  so  extravagant  an  offer,  for  they  said  L.  M'ould  have 
worked  an  hour  for  the  chance  of  making  ten  cents.  L.  is  the 
financier  and  banker  of  the  family.  It  is  said  that  her  purse  is 
like  the  widow's  cruse  of  oil.  Put  a  dollar  in  it,  and  she  will  be  the 
extravagant  purchaser  of  all  she  wishes,  will  have  loaned  to  every 
one  some  part  of  that  dollar,  and  yet,  with  all  her  loans  outstand- 
ing and  her  purchased  possessions  on  hand,  she  will  have  her 
dollar  still.  F.,  on  the  other  hand,  will  not  spend,  but  puts  away 
her  money,  often  in  unknown  places ;  yet  when  demanded  she 
has  nothing  to  show,  — has  spent  nothing,  has  given  away  noth- 
ing, has  loaned  nothing,  and  still  has  nothing.  It  is  well  that  L.'s 
honesty  is  established,  or  the  open  mouths  of  astonishment  which 
these  two  sets  of  developments  cause  in  the  family  would  break 
forth  into  fearful  accusations. 

But  what  a  race  a  wild  pen  will  lead  one,  if  he  give  it  flight ! 
"Well  enough  this  would  have  been  in  the  days  when  pens  were 
feathers,  and  could  be  presumed  capable  of  developing  ''airy 
trifles  ;  "  but  that  an  old  steel  pen  should  thus  fly  off"  into  sparks 
would  seem  impossible  until  you  realized  that  it  has  come  into 
contact  with  an  old  flint  rock  like  me.  Seriously,  however,  I  do 
thank  you  heartily  for  the  book,  but  greatly  more  rejoice  in  my 
knowledge  of  the  love  which  has  prompted  it,  and  the  good  wishes 
as  to  my  birthday  which  accompanied  it. 

To  Mrs.  Burchmjer,  Oct  16,  1880. 

I  thought  a  great  deal  of  you  on  the  14th  (your  birthday),  and 
asked  many  blessings  upon  you.  God  bless  you,  my  own  dear 
sister !  I  always  did  love  you  dearly.  There  has  been  a  peculiar 
drawing  of  us  two  together,  and  it  has  extended  to  my  wife. 
During  these  later  years  of  your  deep  sorrow  —  in  which  1  so 
strongly  sympathize  with  you,  and  in  which  I  was  also  so  deeply 
afflicted  — I  have  felt  that  I  must  come  to  you  in  my  own  place, 
and  also  as  fiir  as  possible  in  tliat  of  your  dear  husband.  And  I 
have  learned  that  my  love  for  you  was  not  so  great  as  could  be, 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  daily  increasing.     I  could  not,  but  for  this 


288  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

experience,  have  supposed  that  possible,  for  I  had  thought  no 
sister  could  be  loved  by  brother  more  than  I  loved  you.  Would 
that  I  were  more  worthy  of  your  love,  and  more  worthy  to  pray 
for  you  !  It  is  a  great  trouble  to  me  often  to  know  how  much 
M'orse  I  am  than  I  am  supposed  to  be.  Hence  T  do  not  suffer,  as 
some  do,  when  persons  think  or  speak  disparagingly  of  me,  for  I 
get  too  much  love.  But  if  to  love  you  is  to  be  fitted  to  pray  for 
you,  I  yield  to  no  one  in  fitness.  The  truth  is,  I  often  think  with 
wonder  and  gratitude  of  the  deep  love  that  all  of  us  brothers  and 
sisters  have  for  each  other. 

In  June,  1881,  he  writes  to  Mrs.  Burckmyer  a  long  de- 
script>ion  of  the  new  house  which,  by  the  authority  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  he  had  purchased  as  a  residence  for  the 
Chairman  of  the  Facultj^,  on  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and 
Brook  Streets.  He  had  bought  it  from  the  widow  of 
Henry  Clay,  son  of  the  famous  statesman.  It  was  a  very 
large  house,  with  numerous  and  spacious  rooms.  He  had 
never  in  Louisville  had  room  for  his  books,  the  greater 
part  of  them  being  packed  away  in  boxes;  but  here  there 
^vould  be  a  noble  library,  and  a  private  study  besides. 
He  could  now  entertain  her  and  her  family,  and  other 
kindred  and  friends.  He  hoped  also  to  give  receptions  to 
the  professors  and  students  and  friends  of  the  Seminary. 

To  Mrs.  Burckmyer,  Oct.  12,  1881. 

You  will  get  this  on  your  birthday.  I  congratulate  you.  I 
wish  you  as  many  more  birthdays  as  God  may  see  to  be  best  for 
you,  and  then  a  peaceful  rest  and  joyous  life  where  life  is  not 
measured  by  such  paltry  periods  as  years  and  centuries,  and 
where  as  we  grow  older  we  are  only  made  brighter  and  more  fit 
to  live. 

To  Mrs.  Burckmyer,  Jan.  10,  1883. 

Your  very  kind  note  of  January  6  received.  I  wonder  how 
many  brothers  in  this  world  have  such  a  sister,  not  to  say  sisters, 
as  I.  Truly,  in  some  things,  God  has  blessed  me  to  overflowing  ', 
and  I  appreciate  it.  No  one  delights  to  be  loved,  and  loved  for  him- 
self, and  not  so  much  his  profitableness  to  others,  as  I  do.    I  think 


IN   THE   SEMINARY   AT   LOUISVILLE.  ^80 

one  reason  why  we  ought  to  love  the  Lord  so  much  is  because  we 
know  as  well  as  he  does  how  uuprotitable  we  are,  and  that  we 
are  loved,  not  even  for  what  we  are,  but  simply  because  we  are 
his.  It  is  so  delightful  to  be  owned.  There  is  at  least  that 
pleasure  in  being  a  slave,  and  I  thinli  our  skives  of  old  felt  this, 
and  a  great  nearness  it  made  between  them  and  their  masters  and 
mistresses.  I  know  I  have  never  been  able  to  love  my  bttst  hired 
servants  as  I  did  my  more  indifferent  oues  whom  I  owned.  I 
think  it  is  not  so  with  the  hired  ones ;  that  until  long  service  makes 
such  an  indissoluble  attachment  that  in  a  sense  they  seem  to  be- 
h)ng  to  us  like  our  children  and  relatives,  we  never  learn  to  hjve 
them  as  nmch  as  we  may. 

But  I  must  not  make  a  homily  of  my  letter.  The  books  will 
probably  be  here  to-day  or  to-morrow.  I  have  not  yet  bought 
Hayue's  poems,  and  so  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  reading  them 
as  your  gift  to  me. 

I  see  you  are  to  have  the  Princess  Louise  in  Charleston  for  the 
winter.  Well,  of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  that,  though  poor,  and 
not  now  capable  of  showing  the  hospitality  and  courtesy  of  tlie 
past,  Charleston  is,  of  all  the  places  in  the  country,  that  in  which 
she  will  find  that  people  know  how  to  treat  a  royal  princess,  with 
honor  and  respect  due  to  her  station,  and  without  any  vulgar 
toadyism.  I  trust  that  through  the  British  consul  she  will  fall 
into  the  right  hands.  It  is  funny  that  she  should  have  asked 
w^hether  Charleston  is  safe.  It  is  as  bad  as  two  years  ago  when  she 
declined  in  tlie  fall  to  come  through  Louisville  for  fear  of  yellow 
fever.  I  wonder  if  any  of  our  educated  ladies  would  ask  for  a 
military  escort  to  go  to  Dublin,  or  fear  to  visit  London,  lest  they 
should  have  the  leprosy;  yet  probably  we  are  as  ignorant  of  Mexi- 
can matters  as  the  English  of  America.  The  Star  of  Empire  goes 
westward ;  but  still  it  is  always  eastward  that  our  eyes  are  directed 
with  especial  interest  and  knowledge.  Is  this  an  evidence  of 
blindness,  or  of  want  of  foresight? 

To  Miss  Charlotte  B.  Holmes}  Jan.  10,  1883. 

I  received  your  card  to-day,  and  your  mother's  and  your  grand- 
mother's books,  and  as  you  are  the  smallest  of  the  three,  I  write 

1  Granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Burckmyer. 
I'J 


290  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

to  toll  you  so,  and  to  get  you  to  tell  them.  Take  care  they  do 
not  Hud  it  out  before  you  tell  them.  I  am  ghid  you  like  the  book 
I  seut  you,  and  the  jointed  doll.  By  it  you  will  liud  that  all 
childreu  are  good  in  their  places ;  even  ugly  ones  may  not  be 
siiti- necked,  and  may  have  active  legs  and  aruis.  Then  you  will 
Hud  that  the  joiuted  doll  cannot  cry,  nor  roll  its  eyes  about,  nor 
get  its  hair  rumpled,  nor  break  its  nose,  nor  lose  its  earrings,  as 
some  dolls  can.  Perhaps  you  can  find  out  some  other  excellent 
qualities  in  it  before  I  see  you.  To-morrow  is  Uncle  Jimmy's 
birthday.  He  will  be  fifty  years  old.  How  many  times  is  that 
older  than  you  ?     Find  out,  and  tell  me  when  I  see  you. 


You  must  get  mamma  to  make  you  understand  that  a  grand- 
niece,  instead  of  being  larger  than  only  a  niece,  is  apt  to  be  much 
smaller.  Your  mamma  is  only  my  niece,  and  you  are  the  grand- 
niece.  I  am  afraid  to  try  to  explain,  unless  I  could  talk  with  you 
and  hear  your  dear  little  questions,  and  find  out  just  what  you 
would  wish  to  know  about  it.  .  .  .  We  are  having  such  cold 
weather  here  as  you  never  see  in  Charleston.  Tell  grandma  that 
the  thermometer  last  night  was  below  zero.  She  will  know  how 
cold  that  is.  Yet  we  have  a  heap  of  fun.  The  little  children 
run  out  and  slide  on  the  ice  all  along  the  sidewalk,  and  every  day 
I  see  them  goinsr  out  to  the  big  pond  with  skates  in  their  hands, 
to  skate  upon  the  ice.  Then  we  have  had  ever  so  much  snow, 
and  the  ground  has  been  as  white  as  iced  cakes  for  a  week  at  a 
time.  The  big  river  is  not  yet  frozen  over,  but  sometimes  it  is, 
and  the  people  can  walk  or  drive  over  on  the  ice  from  one  side  to 
the  other.  Do  you  think  you  would  like  to  see  the  water  frozen 
from  the  Battery  away  over  to  the  opposite  shore  of  the  island, 
and  the  people  driving  carriages  over,  as  they  do  in  the  streets  of 
Charleston  ?  Some  of  these  days,  when  you  get  large  enough, 
you  must  come  and  see  all  thes:^  and  other  sights  which  you  can- 
not see  in  Charleston.  But  you  must  not  think  this  is  a  nicer  place 
to  live  in  than  Charleston.  Your  Aunt  Lizzie  is  groaning  over  the 
prospect  that  when  the  pit  is  opened  after  this  cold  spell,  all  her 
flowers  will  be  frozen  up  and  killed.  We  can't  have  them  here 
as  you  have  in  Charleston.  .  .  .  Don't  you  think  grand-uncle 
suits  your  big  Uncle  Jimmy? 


IN  THE   SEMINARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  291 


To  Miss  Charlotte  B.  Holmes,  December  21. 

Your  nice  letter  of  December  18  was  received  tliis  morninq.  I 
am  very  glad  you  are  so  pleased  with  your  little  watch.  It  was 
the  prettiest  ot"  tiie  kiud  I  could  get  ia  Chattanooga,  but  not  flear 
so  pretty  as  1  should  have  liked  to  have  it.  Your  mamma  guesses 
right.  The  lesson  is  punctuality,  which  I  think  one  of  the  most 
important  lessons  in  lite.  Add  to  that,  promptness  to  move  and 
act  at  once,  not  to  dawdle  and  wait  to  be  told  several  times.  It 
also  teaches  when  to  go  to  bed,  so  that  you  will  not  need  to  have 
mamma  urge  you.  One  thing  else  :  Be  careful  with  the  watch  ; 
don't  wind  it  up,  or  move  the  hands,  except  when  necessary;  use 
the  watch,  but  don't  abuse  it.  I  shall  see  when  next  I  meet  you 
what  good  care  you  have  taken  of  it.  I  should  not  have  given  it 
unless  I  had  thought  you  would  take  good  care  of  it. 

We  may  add  two  or  three  specimens  of  the  numerous 
kindly  letters  he  wrote  to  namesakes. 

To  Master  E.  Boijce  Given  (of  Kentxcki/),  Jan.  10,  1883. 

My  dear  little  Namesake, —I  received  your  nice  little 
card  and  letter.  The  letter  was  very  nicely  written.  I  fear  you 
have  begun  too  well.  A  few  years  from  now,  I  am  afraid  the  hand- 
writing will  not  be  so  good,  nor  the  letter  so  elegant  in  its  lan- 
guage. But  do  not  fear  to  write  me  because  of  that.  I  shall  love 
the  little  things  you  may  say,  and  the  crooked  letters  in  which 
you  will  write  thein.  I  want  you  to  be  a  good  man  first,  and  then 
a  wise  one.  To  be  either,  you  must  begin  while  you  are  young. 
Try  to  be  good,  and  when  old  enough  study  very  hard. 

To  Boyce  Broadus,  Dec.  25,  18S4. 

My  dear  little  Friexd, -^  Many  thanks  for  your  kind 
remembrance  of  me,  and  for  your  presents, —  the  one  so  beauti- 
ful and  fragrant,  and  the  other  so  useful.  I  shall  wear  the  former 
to-day  in  my  coat,  and  hope  that  my  little  friend  is  all  day  as 
happy  as  his  love  to  me  has  made  me;  and  the  other  I  shall 
use  every  day  for  a  long  tune,  and  every  day  think  of  the  kind 


292  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

thoughtfulness  you  have  shown.     God  bless  you,  my  dear  boy, 
and  give  you  every  kind  of  happiness  now  and  evermore. 

We  turn  to  specimens  of  the  letters  he  wrote  to  former 
students  who  were  living  far  away  as  foreign  missionaries. 
The  following  was  written  April  6,  1883,  to  Eev.  P.  A. 
EuBAXK,  Baptist  Mission  House,  Lagos,  West  Africa. 

I  am  sitting  at  my  desk  in  my  lecture-room,  conducting  the 
Final  examination  in  Church  Government,  and  my  mind  naturally 
reverts  to  my  pupils  of  last  year.  I  therefore  have  taken  the 
letter  you  wrote  the  Missionary  Society,  Sept.  25,  1882,  and  shall 
proceed  to  answer  some  of  the  questions  you  put  in  it. 

Probably  some  of  the  students  have  already  written  you  that 
we  have  decided  to  forward  the  money  contributed  at  one  of  our 
mission  Sunday-schools  in  the  city  —  the  one  with  which  you 
labored  —  to  the  Board  at  Richmond,  for  the  special  purpose  of  a 
training-school  in  Yoruba.     And  now  as  to  your  questions. 

1.  "There  is  no  church  at  Abbeokuta :  should  the  Lord's 
Supper  be  administered  to  the  people  who  have  been  baptized, 
and  then  identified  themselves  with  the  mission  ?  "  My  reply  is, 
Yes.  But  this  needs  some  explanation.  (1)  If  there  are  several 
persons  at  Abbeokuta,  why  cannot  a  church  be  formed?  The 
building,  the  pastor,  the  deacons,  are  not  essential  to  a  church, 
but  only  two  or  three  members.  If  you  say  that  there  is  no  one 
capable  there  of  conducting  worship,  and  therefore  no  use  for  a 
church,  I  ask,  Are  there  not  persons  there  who  can  pray  together, 
who  can  form  a  social  meeting,  and  who  can  watch  over  each 
other  ?  If  so,  why  not  have  a  church  ?  Look  into  the  New  Testa- 
ment alone,  without  prejudice  from  present  custom,  and  see  if  it 
is  not  the  fact  that  the  Apostles  formed  their  new  converts  into 
chiu'ches,  or  even  more  likely  that  a  number  of  these  together 
became  thus  a  church  by  virtue  of  being  the  only  persons  in 
the  place  who  had  become  disciples  where  there  had  been  none 
before.  (2)  If  for  any  reason  the  persons  at  Abbeokuta  can  have 
no  church  there,  and  such  a  church  may  seem  to  those  of  you  who 
are  present  not  to  be  essential,  the  persons  there  baptized  should 
become  members  of  some  other  church,  and  that  church  can  have 
the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  administered  to  its  members  at 


IN  THE   SEMINARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  293 

Abbeokuta  as  well  as  at  the  more  general  home,  by  simply  resolv- 
ing that  the  said  church  will  hold  a  meeting  at  Abbeokuta  and 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  of  course  will  only  be  done 
by  those  who  are  there.  (3)  Any  doubts  as  to  such  questions  are 
to  be  determined  in  favor  of  the  most  extensive  privileges  being 
given.  As  a  matter  of  course,  when  we  are  practically  certain  a 
thing  should  or  should  not  be  done,  we  must  follow  that  certainty. 
]3ut  when  we  cannot  decide  whether  a  privilege  sh(juld  be  given 
or  not,  we  are  bound,  I  think,  to  grant  it.  This  is  on  the  prin- 
ciide  our  Lord  laid  down  with  reference  to  the  Sabbath,  when  he 
said,  ''The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath."  Why  should  brethren  be  deprived  all  their  lives  of 
the  blessing  of  partaking  in  remembrance  of  him  according  to 
his  commandment,  because  they  live  at  such  a  distance  from  a 
church  as  to  make  this  impracticable?  Would  it  not  seem,  in  the 
absence  of  any  provision  of  Christ  by  which  this  exiijency  may  be 
met,  that  our  decision  should  be  that  it  is  better  that  Christ's  com- 
mand to  eat  the  bread  and  drink  the  wine  should  be  obeyed,  even 
without  an  assembly  for  that  purpose  of  a  constituted  church, 
than  that  we  should  stickle  for  the  partaking  of  it  in  this  way, 
which  we  infer  to  be  right,  and  that  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
prevent  obedience  to  the  command  ?  And  most  of  all,  does  it  not 
seem  that  our  Lord,  when  he  spoke  of  the  two  or  three,  intended 
to  show  that  of  so  small  a  number  even  as  tliis  could  a  church  b<;, 
and  therefore  that  there  need  never  be  a  celebration  of  it  otherwise 
than  as  a  church,  because  so  easily  would  that  number  be  gath- 
ered wherever  there  are  disciples.  Is  not  the  essential  idea  of  tlie 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  rather  the  idea  that  it  is 
not  a  private  meal,  which  any  one  can  partake  of  at  any  time, 
and  thus  overlook  Christ's  relation  to  his  people  as  a  collected 
body,  and  not  individual  members  only,  than  that  it  is  a  regular 
church  meal,  which  can  only  be  partaken  of  by  a  church  in  regular 
session  f  In  other  words,  is  not  the  point  to  prevent  individual 
partaking,  rather  than  to  secure  a  union  of  the  brethren  in  the 
partaking  f 

Question  2.     *'  Is  it  right  to  baptize  a  believer  witli  a  view  to 
his  becoming  a  member  of  a  church  not  yet  organized  f  " 
.    Answer,  certainly.     Did  not  the  Apostles  do  this  constantly  ? 
Your  doubt  arises  from  the  common  practice  among  churches  at 


294  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

home,  where  churches  are  convenient,  and  where  the  consultation 
as  to  whether  a  person  shall  be  baptized,  takes  place  before  the 
baptism.  This  finds  an  Apostolic  example  in  the  case  of  Corne- 
lius. But  the  authority  of  the  minister  to  baptize  without  consul- 
tation with  the  chuich  is  seen  in  the  baptism  of  the  eunuch  by 
Philip.  If  the  brethren  are  present  who  propose  to  enter  into  the 
proposed  new  church,  I  should  consult  them  as  to  the  baptism  ;  but 
if  none  are  present,  I  should  baptize  at  once,  without  consultation. 
This  I  believe  was  the  universal  custom  of  Apostolic  days. 

Your  third  question  seems  to  me  to  raise  issues  which  can  only 
be  settled  in  each  individual  case.  You  refer  to  the  refusal  to 
testify  against  each  other  from  fear,  and  to  the  case  of  a  woman 
who  terrified  a  church  by  saying  she  had  come  to  see  who  would 
raise  a  hand  against  her.  I  see  no  other  way  to  do  in  each  case, 
however,  than  to  instruct  in  the  truth,  and  to  use  moral  suasion. 
What  else  can  you  do  ?  You  have  no  authority  over  a  church. 
You  can  only  exercise  influence  through  the  esteem  they  have  for 
you,  and  use  effective  moral  suasion  by  the  power  of  your  w^ords. 
But  I  think,  in  general,  the  other  members  should  be  warned  not 
to  allow  superstitious  fear  to  keep  them  from  doing  right;  and 
this  offending  woman  should  be  taught  that  there  is  nothing  in 
becoming  or  being  a  Christian  where  there  is  no  genuine  religion. 
Why  should  she  wish  to  be  in  the  church  at  all?  I  tliink  all  you 
can  do  is  to  f<jllow  Apostolic  precepts,  —  watch,  warn,  exhort, 
rebuke,  always  recognizing  the  autliority  of  the  church  and  its 
independence,  and  exercising  in  your  own  person  no  right,  real  or 
pretended,  by  which  you  would  attempt  to  rule. 

Your  fourth  and  fifth  questions  I  will  answer  together.  '^  Should 
converted  polygamists  be  received  into  the  church  without  being 
required  to  give  up  their  wives,  except  one  1  If  we  receive  poly- 
gamists, and  thus  have  some  in  the  church,  what  should  be 
done  with  a  member  who  takes  a  plurality  of  wives  after  being 
received  ?  " 

1  think  this  matter  may  be  arranged  if  you  will  follow  what  I 
think  was  the  plan  in  Apostolic  days.  (1)  Christ  was  outspoken 
as  to  the  necessity  of  monogamy.  (2)  So  likewise,  so  far  as  they  are 
known  to  us  to  have  spoken,  were  the  Apostles.  Tiiese  two  facts 
settle,  therefore,  the  Christian  opinion  on  the  subject.  (3)  But 
Christianity,  unlike  Judaism,  always  interprets  law  with  regard  to 


IN  THE   SP:MINARY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  295 

a  merciful  dispensation  of  it.  Consequently,  when  persons  were 
found  with  mure  than  one  wife,  they  were  ((f)  doubtless  admitted 
to  membership,  (6)  but  with  such  teaching  as  showed  that  poly- 
gamy, though  tolerated,  was  only  tolerated  from  mercy  towards 
those  already  married,  where  the  annulling  of  the  marriage  relation 
of  any  one  or  more  of  the  wives  would  be  cruel  and  unjust  to  her. 

(c)  This  would  be  accompanied,  not  by  a  stigma  upon  those  thus 
placed,  but  by  some  evidence  that  their  position  was  undesirable. 

(d)  This  is  found  in  the  requirement  that  the  offices  of  the  church 
should  be  confined  to  those  who  have  one  wife  only.  "■  A  bishop 
must  be  the  husband  of  one  wife." 

Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  such  acticm  would  settle  the  ques- 
tions you  ask.  You  will  show  from  it  that  polygamy  was  dis- 
countenanced, was  allowed  because  of  peculiar  facts,  and  yet 
blamed  so  fur  as  to  become  a  disqualification,  and  consequently 
that  it  is  not  possible  that  polygamy  should  have  been  allowed 
to  take  place  by  a  man's  addiug  to  one  or  more  existing 
wives. 

To  your  sixth  question,  as  to  the  judgment  of  moral  questions 
according  to  the  Bible,  or  with  regard  to  the  moral  weakness  of 
the  heathen,  I  reply:  (1)  That  we  ought  not  to  lower  the  standard 
of  instruction  on  moral  questions.  These  should  be  set  forth  in 
all  their  beauty  and  elevated  character.  (2)  That  we  should  be 
tender  and  merciful  in  their  application.  AVhile  we  teach  rigidly 
wlvdt  Scripture  teaches,  and  thus  raise  up  the  banner  aloft,  we 
should  yet  recognize  the  low  standard  with  whi(;h  these  have 
been  ftimiliar,  and  make  allowance  in  dealing  with  them.  *'  A 
bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall 
he  not  quench."  Our  Lord's  treatment  of  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery  is  a  lesson  of  such  treatment,  even  when  the  standard  of 
moral  teaching  was  not  low,  but  highly  elevated. 

I  shall  not  ask  your  pardon  for  my  long  letter,  because  I  have 
tried  to  meet  your  own  wishes.  It  has  been  a  pleasure  to  me  to 
state  thus  briefly  such  points  as  I  hope  may  either  give  satisfac- 
tion, or  set  you  to  thinking,  and  perhaps  lead  to  the  attainment  of 
wiser  conclusions. 

We  have  had  a  prosperous  session.  We  have  regularly  ma- 
triculated 117  students,  and  have  had  in  addition  two  who  left  before 
matriculation,  besides  three  or  four  others  who  have  attended  lee- 


296  MEMOIR   OF   JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

tures.  Two  ladies  also  have  attended  lectures,  both  of  whom  will 
go  to  China,  one  being  Miss  Blaudford,  whom  you  know,  and  the 
other  Miss  Morris,  of  Missouri.  The  Faculty  will  recommend  to 
the  Board  that  the  sessions  hereafter  be  opened  in  October,  instead 
of  September,  and  close  June  1,  instead  of  May  1. 

We  think  of  you  and  our  other  dear  students  in  foreign  lands 
very  frequently.  At  every  missionary  meeting  you  are  all  spoken 
of  and  prayed  for,  and  others  exhorted  to  go  out  and  help  you. 
You  may  be  sure  of  our  continued  love.  Please  give  my  best 
regards  to  your  wife. 

To  Bev.  E.  Z.  Simmons,  Canton,  China,  April  G,  1883. 

As  you  were  informed  by  my  secretary,  your  letter  of  October 
14  was  received,  with  instructions  as  to  the  bonds  of  yourself  and 
Mrs.  Simmons ;  but  I  laid  it  aside  at  the.  time,  intending  to  write 
you  a  friendly  and  not  a  business  letter  at  some  leisure  moment. 
Unfortunately  (or  fortunately?)  such  moments  of  idleness  are 
not  common  with  me.  I  find  myself  very  much  overburdened 
with  work,  because  my  cares  are  various.  Sometimes  I  feel  like 
cutting  myself  away  from  everything  except  my  professorship 
work  ;  but  so  many  are  dependent  upon  me  that  I  cannot  do  so 
without  injury  to  them.  My  own  family  is  small,  as  you  know, 
and  it  is  not  to  them  that  I  refer. 

Our  Seminary  has  greatly  prospered  this  year.  Last  year  we 
had  ninety-six  students  ;  this  year  we  have  had  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty,  besides  two  ladies,  who  propose  to  go  to  China  as 
missionaries,  namely.  Miss  Blandford  and  Miss  Morris.  Only 
to-day  Dr.  Manly  came  to  me  to  arrange  for  a  meeting  next 
Tuesday  afternoon  to  exainine,  in  behalf  of  the  Board  at  Rich- 
mond, another  lady,  of  whom  Dr.  Manly  speaks  most  highly, — a 
Miss  Roberts,  sister  of  Rev.  H.  C.  Roberts,  one  of  our  last  year's 
students,  and  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  in  this  city.  Our  stu- 
dents seem  to  be  imbued  very  generally  with  a  missionary  spirit. 
The  fact  that  Pruitt  and  Walker  went  to  China  last  year,  and 
Eubank  to  Africa,  has  moved  them  deeply.  A  number  are  con- 
templating some  foreign  field,  with  various  degrees  of  interest  and 
purpose.  I  trust  the  time  has  already  come  when  we  shall  send 
some  fruit  every  year  to  China  and  Africa,  to  Italy  and  South 


IN   THE   SEMIXATIY   AT  LOUISVILLE.  '^\U 

America.  Our  missionary  meetings  are  held  monthly,  as  when 
you  were  here,  and  are  full  of  interest.  The  ladies  in  the  various 
churches  here  are  active  in  the  Woman's  Mission  toWonuui  \v(irk, 
and  I  think  are  doiug  much  good,  more  especially  as  they  seem  to 
be  very  judicious  and  modest.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  tlie 
secretary's  report  of  the  society  connected  with  Broadway  Baptist 
Church,  because  the  lady  said  she  could  not  rise  before  a  mixed 
audience  and  read  it.  I  told  her  I  so  much  admired  such  modesty 
and  true  womanliness  that  I  could  not  refuse,  and  would  read  any 
number  of  papers  for  such  societies  upon  those  conditions. 

The  churches  here  are  all  raising  money  for  city  purposes, 
—  Broadway  to  pay  off  a  debt  of  $15,000,  and  the  other  churches 
to  help  Dr.  Weaver,  and  East  Church,  Green's  old  place.  The 
Seminary  Missionary  Society  is  also  doing  a  large  work  in  this 
city,  for  which  the  funds  are  given  by  members  of  city  Baptist 
churches.  The  students  have  engaged  in  this  with  great  zeal. 
It  was  begun  two  years  ago  last  November,  and  has  constantly 
developed,  until  we  now  have  about  one  thousand  children  in  eight 
mission  Sunday-schools. 


To  Mev.  W.  S.  Walker,  Shanghai,  China,  Dec.  1,  1883. 

Will  it  be  too  late  for  congratulations  when  my  letter  arrives? 
If  not,  please  accept  them  for  yourself,  and  present  them  for  me  to 
your  wife.  My  dear  fellow,  I  am  so  glad  that  you  are  married, 
and  especially  that  you  have  a  wife  so  sweet  and  amiable  as  I  see 
she  must  be,  from  the  photograph  of  her  you  sent  Dr.  Manly.  I 
don't  think  you  would  have  done  as  well  at  home,  had  Dr.  Tupper 
and  the  Foreign  Board  given  you  three  months  longer  to  find 
one.  I  was  greatly  relieved  that  you  did  not  get  a  wife  in  tliat 
way,  and  that  you  have  obtained  one  in  the  way  of  natural  (I 
don't  mean  Darwin)  selection.  You  have  always  had  a  very  dear 
place  in  my  heart,  and  I  shall  always  look  at  your  work  with  very 
peculiar  interest.  May  God  continue  to  bless  you  greatly  in  it ! 
Your  wife,  I  understand,  is  a  sister  of  Dr.  Mateer,  the  senior 
missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  mission  at  Tungchow.  I  under- 
stand that  to  marry  you,  she  had  to  begin  to  twist  her  mouth  to  a 
new  dialect.    I  did  not  know  before  that  such  wry  faces  must  be 


298  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

made  in  swallowirig  my  old  pupil.  I  judge,  however,  from  what  I 
have  heard  of  her  brother,  that  she,  if  like  him,  is  capable  of  all 
things.  .  .  .  You  heard  last  year  of  our  iucreased  numbers.  We 
shall  do  as  well  this  year.  There  are  already  t)ne  hundred  and 
four  students.  Our  classes  are  doubly  as  large  as  when  you  were 
here.  The  students  are  a  noble  set  of  young  men,  —  some  not  so 
very  young,  —  and  every  year  we  see  that  we  are  producing  an 
effect  which  cannot  be  measured,  upon  the  South.  There  never  was 
so  much  missionary  spirit  in  the  Seminary,  never  so  much  in  the 
churches  at  large.  I  do  not  venture  to  attribute  all  of  this,  under 
God,  to  the  Seminary;  I  know  that  other  causes  are  at  work. 
But  I  know  that  the  Seminary  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  the 
past,  and  must  be  still  more  so  in  the  future.  .  .  .  We  hope  to 
send  you  other  men  from  time  to  time,  to  help  you  brethren 
abroad,  in  China,  in  Africa,  in  Mexico,  in  Brazil.  The  more  we 
send,  the  more  we  shall  find  ourselves  able  to  send,  —  consecrated 
men,  of  devoted  piety,  filled  with  the  missionary  spirit,  and  as  well 
cultivated  and  educated,  especially  in  theological  and  Biblical 
lore.  The  more  we  send  from  the  Seminary,  the  more  will  the 
other  students  be  filled  with  zeal  for  missions,  and  the  more  Avill 
their  churches  give;  and  as  these  increase  in  giving,  they  will 
become  still  more  willing  to  give,  not  money  only,  but  men.  The 
fact  is,  I  believe  we  have  begun  a  round  of  spiritual  power  which 
will  be  like  a  whirlwind,  and  will  gain  force  as  it  goes,  sweeping 
forward  with  resistless  power  unto  the  end  of  the  M'orld,  —  that  is, 
if  we  shall  prove  faithful.  God  keep  us  so ;  for  all  force  will  soon 
be  at  an  end,  unless  He  help. 

I  trust  your  own  work  becomes  increasingly  interesting,  as  day 
after  day  passes,  and  you  grow  better  able  to  preach  the  blessed 
gospel  to  the  perishing.  We  have  felt  much  troubled  at  the 
dangers  to  which  our  brethren  at  Canton  have  been  exposed,  and 
we  have  not  known  whether  or  no  there  was  any  possibility  of 
danger  at  (^ther  points,  but  supposed  that  there  was.  In  such  peril 
our  hearts  go  out  towards  all  of  you  with  much  apprehension, 
which  is  only  allayed  by  our  faith  that  the  heart  of  Jesus  also 
goes  out  in  like  manner,  with  greatly  more  tenderness.  It  is  well 
for  all  of  us  always  to  remember  that  the  commission  was  con- 
nected by  a  ''therefore"  with  the  ''  all  povA'er  "  intrusted  to  his 
hands.     He  then  can  take  care  of  his  own  cause.  .  .  .  Blessed  be 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  299 

God,  we  can  get  into  no  situation  in  which  we  may  not  have  the 
sympathizing  pity  and  prayers  of  Jesus ! 

Give  my  best  regards  to  Dr.  Yates.  I  wish  I  could  once  more 
see  him.  His  sympathy  for  my  work  here  has  been  a  great 
consolation,  his  opinion  of  its  value  a  very  great  and  constant 
encouragement.  I  believe  he  is  justitied  in  his  belief  as  to  the 
value  of  the  Seminary  to  Foreign  Missions;  but  it  is  a  great 
pleasure  to  know  that  this  is  his  faith. 


To  Hev.  M.  T.  Yates,  D.D.,  Shanghai,  China,  Jan.  10,  1884. 

Yours  of  November  21  received.  ...  I  trust  what  you  have 
written  to  Herring  and  the  "  Recorder  '"  and  Tupper  may  be  etfec- 
tual  to  prevent  any  such  idea  from  controlling  the  going-out  of 
missionaries  as  would  dispense  with  the  most  thorough  education 
possible.  I  am  very  sure  that  all  should  be  thorouglily  educated, 
although  I  know  what  good  work  men  have  done  without  such 
opportunities.  You  may  be  sure  that  we  shall  do  all  that  we  can 
in  this  direction.  While  we  are  devoutly  attached  to  the  cause 
of  missions,  — indeed,  because  we  are  thus  attached,  —  we  W(»uld 
not  increase  the  number  of  missionaries  by  an  addition  of  incompe- 
tent men.  I  had  rather  send  out  men  defective  in  physical  than  in 
mental  strength.  I  trust  if  you  have  not  known  before,  you  know, 
through  what  Brother  Walker  can  tell  you,  how  much  of  the 
missionary  spirit  pervades  our  institution.  If  we  cannot  overcome 
the  tendency  of  many  to  reniain  at  home,  we  do  at  least  destroy 
all  anti-missionaryism,  and  build  up  such  genuine  interest  as  will 
give  the  mission  cause  some  chance  to  have  its  claims  presented 
before  all  the  churches  these  students  will  serve.  I  believe,  indeed, 
that  thus  there  will  be  awakened  a  true  spirit  everywhere.  How 
otherwise  than  through  our  work  can  it  now  be  accounted  foi-  that 
South  Carolina,  in  its  present  condition  of  comparatively  deep 
poverty,  so  far  excels  what  it  did  for  missions  in  the  days  of  its 
wealth  ?  In  Kentucky  we  have  a  soil  to  work  upon  not  so  long 
nor  so  well  cultivated  as  that  of  South  Carolina  was  when  we 
began  in  1859.  But  I  venture  to  say  that  here  also  we  shall  do, 
with  the  help  of  God,  a  great  work;  and  as  fast  as  we  can  get  hold 
of  the  students  of  the  Southern  States,  or  others,  you  will  see  a 


300  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

revolution.  Had  I  the  use  of  a  million  of  dollars  to-day,  I  could 
in  twenty-five  years  make  this  whole  Southern  country  so  full  of 
missionary  Baptists  that  unless  the  devil  could  devise  some  other 
means  of  weakening  or  retarding  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  should 
support  thousands  of  missionaries.  Had  I  such  a  sura,  or  the 
half  of  it,  I  would  from  its  annual  interest  support  all  who  would 
attend  the  Seminary  and  needed  help,  and  I  would  send  out  agents 
to  ''  compel"  them  to  come  in,  and  have  one  thousand  students 
here  each  year.  But,  after  all,  all  in  Grod's  good  time.  I  think 
we  ought  to  say  this,  in  contentment,  relying  on  him  ;  while  in 
discontent,  as  long  as  the  work  is  not  done,  we  should  bend  every 
eftbrt  towards  it  with  all  the  means  we  have.  I  am  deeply  grate- 
ful for  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  our  work.     Pray  for  us. 

We  add  the  following  miscellaneous  letters :  — 

To  Professor  John  L.  Lincoln,  LL.D.,  Brown  University, 
Jan.  2,  1885. 

Your  letter  from  Charleston,  S.  C,  was  indeed  a  surprise,  but 
none  could  be  more  pleasant.  It  delights  me  to  know  that  you 
have  been  in  the  old  city  so  dear  to  me  as  my  boyhood's  home.  I 
only  regret  that  I  was  not  there  wdth  you,  for  there  is  so  much 
that  is  not  only  characteristic,  but  quaint  and  worthy  of  special 
notice,  about  the  city,  and  which  is  not  apt  to  be  seen  in  a  hurried 
visit,  that  I  wish  you  had  had  some  native  guide,  and  above  all  I 
wish  for  the  pleasure  it  would  have  given  me  to  be  your  guide.  I 
am  especially  pleased  to  know  that  while  there  you  remembered 
me,  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  moved  to  write  me  your  kind 
letter.  The  four  of  us  who  were  under  your  charge  on  the  same 
floor  with  yourself  while  I  w^as  in  college,  w^ere  always  your 
admirers,  not  merely  as  our  Latin  professor,  but  chiefly  as  our 
friendly  monitor  and  guardian.  And  I  confess  that  one  of  the 
chief  pleasures  of  my  life  has  been  the  friendship  of  my  former 
instructors  at  Brown.  Your  letter  therefore  has  brought  me 
more  than  ordinary  pleasure.  I  read  it  with  much  pride  to  my 
wife  and  daughters,  who  seemed  also  fully  to  appreciate  your 
kind  greetings. 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT  LOUISVILLE.  301 

Bev.  C.  H.  Toy,  D.B ,  Harvard  University,  April  28,  1885. 

I  have  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  25th,  sympathiziug  with 
us  iu  the  h)ss  of  Dr.  Kiggaii.  He  died  ou  the  18th,  about  11 
A.  M.  His  disease  was  meuingitis.  He  had  really  worked  him- 
self down  ;  and  thiS;  with  the  recent  loss  of  his  child,  had  put  hiui 
in  a  bad  condition  for  an  attack.  He  was  sick  about  twelve  days, 
the  immediate  cause  being  over-fatigue  in  preaching,  and  riding 
three  miles  after  it  at  night,  when  he  had  been  thrown  by  preach- 
ing into  a  profuse  perspiration.  His  symptoms  were  at  first  like 
those  of  typhoid  fever,  but  afterwards  so  developed  meuingitis  as  to 
leave  no  doubt  about  the  disease.  His  loss  is  a  sad  one  to  us. 
He  was  doing  well,  and  we  looked  forward  naturally  to  a  long 
and  useful  life.  Nevertheless,  God  knows  what  is  best,  and  does 
what  he  wills. 

From  a  Letter  to  Bev.  W.  T.  Loivrey,  of  Mississippi, 
April  28,  1885. 

I  thank  you  for  your  quotation  from  Brother  Trotter,  and  for 
your  own  kind  expressions.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  know  that  I 
have  the  affection  of  my  pupils.  I  often  fear  that  it  must  be 
otherwise;  and  such  words  as  you  wrote  are  worth  to  me  far  more 
than  you  can  imagine. 

To  William  E.  Dodge,^  Esq.,  New  York  City,  Sept.  21,  1885. 

Yours  of  1 7th  received.  The  copies  of  Dr.  Mayo's  address  were 
also  received.  I  have  carefully  read  the  address,  and  am  obliged 
to  you  for  sending  it  to  me,  and  I  will  give  the  extra  copies  to 
various  parties  who  will  appreciate  them.  I  think  the  South 
indebted  to  him  for  his  candor  and  kindness,  and  to  you  for  your 
liberality  in  printing  and  distributing  the  address.  I  do  not  think 
he  fully  appreciates  the  efforts  for  common  school  education  which 
were  made  iu  the  South  prior  to  1860;  they  were  much  more 
extensive   and    successful   than    has   been   generally   supposed. 

1  He  and  Dr.  Boyce  were  together  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Slater  Fund. 


302  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

UnquestioDably  they  were  not  what  they  should  have  been,  nor 
are  tliey  now  what  they  ought  to  be.  They  were  also  confined 
to  the  white  race.  Yet  I  know  that  in  many,  and  I  believe  in  all 
the  Southern  States,  appropriations  were  annually  made  for  free 
education,  or  to  supplement  what  was  privately  done  by  payment 
for  free  scholars  on  the  part  of  the  State.  The  present  system 
also  has  not  proved  an  unmixed  blessing;  for  while  more  ample 
provision  is  now  made  for  the  masses,  it  has  destroyed  the 
numerous  private  schools  by  which  good  education  was  then 
afi'orded  the  better  classes.  Pardon  my  mentioning  these  facts, 
I  know  you  wish  the  truth ;  and  I  say  these  things  in  full  appre- 
ciation of  the  advantages  of  common  schools,  which  will  remedy 
these  evils  when  they  are  brought  to  the  perfection  existing  at 
the  North. 

The  following  extracts  will  illustrate  Dr.  Boyce's  ups 
and  downs  about  the  Seminary :  — 

To  John  A.  Broadus,  July  20,  1885. 

I  confess  I  get  sick  at  heart  when  I  see  brethren  so  unwilling 
to  help,  and  so  perfectly  indifferent  to  the  position  in  which  they 
leave  me.  I  am  like  a  man  sinking  in  a  quagmire  or  quicksand, 
and  seeing  others  to  whom  he  cries  for  help  walking  off  quietly  to 
eat  their  supper. 

To  Ms  Sister,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Lane,  of  JSfeiv  York,  Nov.  3,  1886. 

I  find  on  my  return  that  my  friend  William  F.  Norton,  one  of 
our  most  liberal  contributors,  and  whose  death  is  a  great  loss  to 
us  all,  left  $10,000  in  his  will  to  aid  "indigent  students  for  the 
ministry  in  our  Seminary.  Only  last  spring  he  gave  ns  $7,500 
to  pay  off  our  debt  for  the  land,  his  brother  giving  us  $10,000  at 
the  same  time.^ 

1  They  had  both  also  given  liberally  for  the  endowment.  Since 
Dr.  Boyce's  death  the  two  Norton  families  have  expended  $60,000  in 
erecting  a  large  and  handsome  building  for  lecture-rooms  and  offices, 
which  the  Faculty  have  named  Norton  Hall. 


IN  THE   SEMINARY  AT   LOUISVILLE.  303 

To  a  Baptist  Minister  in  Kentucki/,  Nov.  5,  188G. 

Yours  received.  I  regret  very  much  to  have  to  declioe  answer- 
ing your  question.  I  should  be  glad  to  furnish  you  my  opinion  on 
the  subject,  but  for  the  fact  that  I  have  made  it  an  invariable  rule 
never  to  give  an  opinion  even  on  the  simplest  subjects  where  they 
have  been  made  a  matter  of  discussion  in  a  church  or  among  its 
members.  I  do  not  in  any  sense  think  that  we  are  to  be  governed 
by  what  is  called  •' baptistic,"  but  only  by  the  New  Testament 
rules,  and  that  Baptist  usages  are  only  matters  of  convenience 
and  opinion  when  universal,  and  not  opposed  to  the  Scriptures.  I 
should  always  follow  Baptist  usages  where  the  New  Testament 
was  not  opposed  to  them.  The  great  difficulty  in  doing  so,  how- 
ever, is  to  find  out  what  Baptist  usage  is.  In  some  places  and 
some  ages  it  differs  from  other  places  and  other  ages.  All  the 
advice  I  can  give  you  is  to  go  by  the  New  Testament  always, 
Baptist  usage  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  But  when  there 
is  nothing  in  the  New  Testament  bearing  upon  a  case,  follow 
the  usage,  unless  other  circumstances  make  it  unwise  to  do  so. 
Baptist  usage  has  only  the  power  of  an  opinion;  the  New 
Testament's  direction  or  usage  is  law. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  may  state  as  the  full 
conviction  of  Dr.  Boyce  and  his  colleagues,  after  years  of 
experience,  that  a  Theological  Seminary  gains  greatl}^ 
from  being  established  in  a  large  city,  and  at  a  central 
point  in  the  city.  And  Louisville  has  proved  a  highly 
satisfactory  location.  It  is  easy  of  access,  a  growing  city, 
with  the  Baptists  numerous  and  rapidly  increasing,  and 
all  friends  of  the  Seminary.  More  than  half  of  the  stu- 
dents are  occupied  every  Sunday  as  teachers  in  jNlission 
Sunday-schools  or  as  preachers,  and  quite  a  large  propor- 
tion of  them  have  some  pastoral  charge  in  the  city,  or 
among  the  churches  of  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  within  a 
hundred  miles.  A  few  may  neglect  their  studies  for  such 
preaching,  but  in  general  it  contributes  to  prepare  them 
for  future  usefulness. 


304  MEMOIR  or  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

PUBLISHED    AND    UNPUBLISHED   WRITINGS. 

T  T  7E  have  already  spoken  (chap,  ix.)  of  Dr.  Boyce's 
VV  *'  Three  Changes  in  Theological  Institutions,'^  — 
an  address  which  produced  very  notable  results,  because  it 
interpreted  to  Southern  Baptists  one  of  their  profoundest 
wants,  and  because  it  was  backed  by  the  convictions  and 
energies  of  a  man  capable  of  bringing  something  to 
pass. 

About  1872  he  issued  ''A  Brief  Catechism  of  Bible 
Doctrine.''  This  was  published  first  in  Memphis  by  the 
Sunday-school  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
the  Board  established  during  the  war,  and  removed  from 
Greenville  to  Memphis.  This  Board  not  long  after  ceased 
to  exist.  In  1878  a  revised  edition  of  the  Catechism  was 
published  in  Louisville  by  Caperton  &  Cates.  It  con- 
sists of  twenty  short  lessons,  full  of  instruction  for  the 
young.  It  was  the  author's  "  desire  to  promote  catecheti- 
cal instruction  in  the  famil}^  and  Sunday-school."  The 
attempt  was  made  ''to  simplify,  as  far  as  possible,  with- 
out sacrificing  important  truth."  It  is  an  excellent  little 
work,  which  has  been  a  good  deal  used,  and  deserves  to  be 
used  very  widely. 

Dr.  Boyce's  chief  publication  was  his  ''Abstract  of 
Systematic  Theology,"  printed  for  the  use  of  his  class  in 
1882,  and  revised  and  enlarged  for  publication  in  1887. 
His  text-book  in  the  general  or  English  class  of  Systematic 
Theology  had  for  the  ten  first  years  of  the  Seminary's 
operations  been  Dick's  Theology,  gradually  substituting 
for  this  or   that   portion   a   lecture    of   his    own.     When 


PUBLISHED  AND  UNPUBLISHED   WRITINGS.      305 

Dr.  Charles  Hodge's  great  work  appeared,  in  1872,  Boyce 
hailed  it  with  delight,  —  so  broadly  comprehensive,  com- 
plete at  all  points,  surpassingly  able  and  satisfactory,  and 
expressing  the  consummate  life-work  of  his  own  revered 
teacher.  Though  the  three  large  octavos  made  a  treatise 
too  extensive  for  his  method  of  instruction,  he  imme- 
diately introduced  it  as  a  text-book,  —  of  course  select- 
ing, and  still  substituting  his  own  dictated  lectures  at 
various  points.  He  would  doubtless  have  continued  to  use 
this  great  work.  But  the  next  3'ear  Dr.  Williams  became 
Professor  of  Systematic  Theology,  and  preferred  to  take 
simply  Dick  as  the  basis  of  his  own  course  of  lectures. 
"When  Boyce  resumed  the  subject,  in  1887-1888,  he  tried 
Van  Oosterzee's  "Christian  Dogmatics"  for  one  year; 
but  it  proved  somewhat  cumbrous,  and  not  very  strong 
or  inspiring.  Then  for  two  j^ears  he  used  Dr.  Hovey's 
"  Manual  of  Systematic  Theology  and  Christian  Ethics." 
This  he  found  to  be  a  clear,  sound,  and  vigorous  book, 
but  designed  to  serve  onl}^  as  the  basis  of  fuller  discussion 
in  a  course  of  lectures;  while  Boyce  wanted  a  more  ana- 
lytical and  complete  treatment,  to  be  recited  by  the  students 
in  his  peculiar  method.  In  1880-1882  he  used  A.  A. 
Hodge's  "Outlines  of  Theology,"  which  aj^peared  in  1860, 
and  an  enlarged  edition  in  1878.  This  excellent  volume 
was  based  on  his  father's  instruction,  but  everywhere 
shows  independent  thought  and  decided  ability.  Here 
also,  however,  there  was  a  lack  of  adaptation  to  the  pre- 
cise wants  of  Dr.  Boyce's  class.  Having  accumulated  a 
good  manj^  lectures,  which  he  had  been  giving  at  various 
points,  he  finally  undertook  to  prepare  a  work  of  his  own 
which  should  be  suited  to  his  lecture-room  wants,  —  a 
work  comprehensive,  but  analytical  and  condensed,  pre- 
senting all  the  points  necessary  to  a  complete  discussion 
of  every  subject,  but  usually  in  a  brief  statement,  while 
elaborating  w^here  it  seemed  specially  requisite.  His 
duties  as  Chairman  of  the  Faculty,  and  all  the  heavy  bur- 

20 


306  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE, 

den  of  meeting  the  Seminary's  annual  expenses,  and  toil- 
ing to  secure  adequate  endowment  and  buildings,  occupied 
so  mucli  of  his  time  and  energies  that  he  could  not  carry 
the  work  through  as  completel}^  as  he  desired,  and  as  rap- 
idly as  was  necessary.  So,  in  1882,  he  printed  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  copies  of  his  existing  lectures,  and  such 
others  as  he  could  j^repare.  This  volume  of  lectures  was 
not  published,  but  used  exclusively  as  a  text-book  for  his 
class.  It  contained  514  octavo  pages,  and,  though  hur- 
riedly brought  out,  proved  for  the  next  five  years  well 
adapted  to  its  design.  The  classes,  however,  were  steadily 
increasing  in  number;  and  being  anxious  to  re-work  the 
book  thoroughly  before  publishing,  he  began  to  purchase 
back  the  copies  which  had  been  furnished  to  students,  in 
order  to  keep  the  class  supplied  year  after  year. 

Meantime  he  went  on  with  studies  looking  to  the  re- 
vision and  enlargement  of  his  Abstract.  But  the  financial 
and  other  business  distractions  were  very  serious.  He  was 
also  working  much  at  the  course  in  Church  Government, 
wishing  to  make  a  complete  exhibition  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  and  leading  Protestant  forms  of  church  organiza- 
tion and  government,  and  to  discuss  the  principal  creeds, 
using  Dr.  Schaff's  book  and  many  others.  Dr.  Boyce's 
study  of  any  subject  was  sure  to  be  planned  on  a  large 
scale,  and  pushed  with  great  resolution.  Before  he  was 
ready  to  publish  the  matured  and  completed  *' Abstract  of 
Theology,"  the  increasing  number  of  students  demanded 
more  copies  than  he  could  recover  of  the  unpublished 
volume.  Moreover,  his  health  showed  marked  signs  of 
decline.  So,  in  1886-1887,  he  carefull}^  revised,  and  in 
many  parts  re-w^rote,  the  existing  work.  Enlarging  upon 
some  subjects,  he  condensed  elsewhere,  so  as  to  keep  the 
volume  within  about  the  same  compass  as  before,  and  not 
too  large  for  his  course  of  instruction,  embracing  about 
one  hundred  lessons.  The  work  received  his  closest 
attention.     Every  paragraph  was  the  result  of  life-long 


PUBLISHED  AND    UNPUBLISHED  WRITINGS.    307 

studies,  now  faithfully  renewed,  and  the  treatise  presents 
his  mature  convictions.  But  some  parts  of  the  volume 
were  written  down  rapidly,  though  after  long  thought, 
and  so  the  sentences  are  not  always  clear.  Yet  the  reader 
who  will  consider  with  some  patience  need  never  doubt  as 
to  what  is  meant,  and  he  finds  the  thought  itself  to  be  in 
a  very  high  degree  clear  and  strong.  The  work  was  pub- 
lished in  Baltimore  in  1887  (H.  M.  Wharton  &  Co.),  and 
is  now  published  by  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Boyce  omits  several  important  topics  which  are 
often  embraced  in  treatises  on  Systematic  Theology,  be- 
cause iif  this  Seminary  those  subjects  are  taught  in  other 
departments.  Thus,  Canon  and  Inspiration  are  taught  in 
the  school  of  Biblical  Introduction,  Church  Constitution 
and  Ordinances  in  the  school  of  Church  Government  and 
in  that  of  Polemic  Theology.  His  work  could  therefore 
devote  itself  entirely  to  the  statement,  discussion,  and 
defence  of  the  doctrinal  contents  of  Scripture. 

Like  his  preceptor,  Charles  Hodge,  Dr.  Boj^ce  was 
much  influenced  as  to  general  method  by  the  great  treatise 
of  Turrettin,  which  he  was  teaching  every  year  to  his 
smaller  class  in  "Latin  Theology."  But,  like  Dr.  Hodge 
again,  he  based  everything  upon  laborious  collection  and 
conscientious  examination  of  Scripture  passages.  Ko  one 
better  knew  that  the  theologian  and  the  exegetical  student 
are  interdependent.  His  colleague  who  was  Professor  of 
the  New  Testament  once  said  to  him,  in  some  pleasantries 
of  conversation,  that  students  of  exegesis  might  have 
some  freedom  if  it  were  not  for  these  dreadful  theological 
people,  who  know  beforehand  what  every  passage  ought  to 
mean,  in  order  to  suit  their  creeds  and  systems,  and  who 
have  not  a  proper  respect  for  philology  and  criticism. 
Boyce  replied  that  a  student  of  theology  might  have  some 
peace  if  it  were  not  for  these  dreadful  teachers  of  exegesis 
and  all  sorts  of  criticism,  who  are  constantly  snapping  up 


308  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

his  favorite  proof  texts,  and  declaring  that  this  is  not  the 
correct  reading,  or  that  is  not  the  correct  translation. 
Yet,  of  course,  the  >6ystematic  arrangement  of  revealed 
truth  is  constantly  dependent  on  the  critical  and  exegeti- 
cal  study  of  the  inspired  writings;  while  the  uncertainties 
of  exegesis  and  criticism  may  often  be  quieted  —  and  its 
over-confident  wanderings  should  often  be  restrained  —  by 
a  due  regard  to  the  general  teachings  of  Scripture  upon 
the  question  involved. 

The  chief  emphasis  in  this  work  is  laid  on  the  doctrine 
of  God  rather  than  on  that  of  Man.  Much  that  some 
theologians  would  treat  exclusively  under  the  doctrine  of 
Man  is  here  presented,  or  the  way  prepared  for  it)  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  nature,  attributes,  and  purposes. 
Thus  the  book  is  truly  a  Theology,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term.  Besides,  the  later  portions,  on  Man,  were  more 
rapidly  written,  and  therefore  less  full  than  they  might 
have  otherwise  been  made. 

We  give  extracts  from  two  notices  which  this  work 
received  at  the  time.  The  ^^  Standard"  of  Chicago,  a 
singularly  able  and  judicious  paper,  points  out  carefully 
and  correctly  the  peculiarities  of  the  work,  as  designed 
for  a  text-book  in  class  instruction,  and  as  omitting  cer- 
tain subjects  commonly  included  in  theological  treatises. 
It  then  proceeds  as  follows :  — 

'^  AVe  find  the  book,  as  respects  its  specific  purpose,  deserving 
of  high  j)raise.  It  does  not  attempt  too  much,  yet  aims  at 
and  accomplishes  enough.  Its  analysis,  in  the  case  of  each  topic, 
is  remarkably  helpful,  alike  for  the  student  and  for  the  general 
reader.  In  statement,  in  argument,  in  the  expanding  of  the  thought, 
where  this  is  called  for,  there  is  great  clearness.  We  judge  that 
it  may  be  taken  in  hand  by  the  student,  by  the  pastor,  or  the 
ijeneral  reader,  and  made  available  for  theological  instruction 
in  a  way  to  be  a  most  eficctive  guide  in  all  the  great  matters 
included. 

"As  a  theologian  Dr.  Boyce  is  not  afraid  to  be  found  *  in  the  old 


PUBLISHED  AND   UNPUBLISHED   WRITINGS.      309 

paths.'  He  is  conservative,  and  eminently  ScripturaL  He  treats 
ivitli  great  fairness  those  whose  views  upon  various  points  dis- 
cussed he  declines  to  accept,  yet  in  his  own  teacliiug  is  decidedly 
Calvinistic,  after  the  model  of  '  the  old  divines.'  Difficulties,  as 
connected  with  such  doctrines  as  the  Federal  Headship  of  Adam, 
Election,  and  the  Atonement,  he  aims  to  meet,  evidently,  not  so 
as  to  silence  the  controversialist,  hut  so  as  to  help  the  honest 
inquirer.  We  offer  no  opinion  as  to  the  correctness  of  his  theo- 
h)gical  opinions,  this  being  beyond  our  province;  but  we  have 
this  to  say,  that  the  remarkable  steadiness  of  the  Baptist  ministry 
and  the  Baptist  churches,  in  this  age  of  theological  drift,  is  un- 
questionably due  very  much  to  the  firm  Scriptural  attitude  of  our 
theology  as  taught  in  the  theological  schools,  South,  West,  and 
East. 

''  We  take  pleasure  in  expressing  our  very  high  appreciation  in 
all  respects  of  this  very  able  work.  If  in  a  few  cases  we  should 
prefer  a  different  form  of  statement,  we  still  hesitate  to  urge  a  pre- 
ference, where  the  criticism,  if  ventured,  would  imply  difference 
from  one  who  in  his  whole  cast  of  mind  is  a  theologian,  and  in  his 
many  years  of  service  has  proved  himself  entitled  to  rank  with  the 
eminent  teachers  of  the  land." 

Another  remarkable  commendation  was  given  by  ''The 
Independent,"  of  New  York.  This  paper  strongly  objects 
to  the  theological  views  presented  in  the  work,  because 
they  involve  decided  ''Calvinism;  "  but  this  sets  in  con- 
trast the  strong  statement  of  its  merits  as  a  text-book. 

"  For  the  purpose  of  a  teacher,  it  is  an  admirable  piece  of  work, 
compact,  well-arranged,  and  with  a  good  critical  statement  of  the 
various  forms  of  doctrinal  opinion  under  each  topic.  The  whole 
is  done  in  a  clear,  strong,  and  manly  way,  with  no  evasion  of  diffi- 
culties, no  sentimental  coloring  or  softening,  but  everywliere  b(dd, 
honest  thinking,  expressed  in  plain,  vigorous,  and  excellent 
English.  Young  men  drilled  in  such  a  manual,  and  theological 
students  in  any  grade  who  bend  their  minds  to  the  task  of  master- 
ing it,  will  have  here  a  robust  and  fundamental  schooling  that 
must  invigorate  their  phih)sophy,  even  if  subsequent  thinking  is 
to  introduce  great  modifications  into  the  theological  system  learned 
from  it." 


310  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

The  critic  then  proceeds  to  object  to  the  book  as  Calvi- 
iiistic,  but  in  so  doing  says :  — 

*'  There  is  a  great  deal  of  close,  strong  thinking  and  keen  the- 
ological criticism  in  the  chapters  on  the  Atonement,  Election, 
Reprobation,  and  particularly  applied  to  the  question  of  the  Ex- 
tent of  the  Atonement.  .  .  .  We  doubt  if  the  Calvinistic  doctrines 
of  Election  and  Reprobation  can  be  put  better  than  they  are  in 
this  volume." 

Dr.  Boyce's  work  is,  indeed,  as  these  newspaper  notices 
have  said,  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  system  of  the- 
ological opinion  commonly  called  Calvinism.  This  is 
believed  by  many  of  us  to  be  really  the  teaching  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  as  elaborated  by  Augustine,  and  systema- 
tized and  defended  by  Calvin.  It  is  a  body  of  truth  that 
compels  men  to  think,  —  in  itself  a  great  advantage.  The 
objections  to  it  are  believed  to  grow  out  of  either  misappre- 
hension, or  misapplication  through  wrong  inferences.  Men 
assume  predestination  and  election,  and  then  deny  human 
freedom  and  responsibility;  or  they  "assume  freedom  and 
accountability,  and  then  deny  predestination  and  election, 
—  in  either  case  because  they  cannot  fully  reconcile  these 
two  sides  of  theological  truth;  thus  making  our  capacity 
to  harmonize  things  the  limit  of  possible  truth,  and  the 
criterion  of  Scripture  interpretation.  The  world  of  matter 
is  kept  in  equilibrium  by  the  antagonism  of  physical  forces, 
and  the  world  of  truth  in  like  manner  through  countervail- 
ing facts  and  principles.  .  Whatever  theoretical  position 
may  be  held,  no  truly  devout  man  actually  lives  in  practi- 
cal neglect  of  either  divine  sovereignty  or  human  respon- 
sibility. The  blindest  ''Hardshell,"  who  has  ''no  mes- 
sage to  the  unconverted,"  does  not  neglect  to  plough  his 
corn;  the  most  ultra  and  heated  Arminian  believes  in  the 
doctrines  of  grace  whenever  he  grows  earnest  in  prayer. 

This  "Abstract  of  Systematic  Theology,"  designed  as  a 
text-book  for  classes,  is  in  like  manner  well  suited  to  care- 


PUBLISHED  AND  UNPUBLISHED   WRITINGS.     311 

fill  private  study.  Nothing  is  more  useful  to  a  thorough- 
going student  than  to  take  some  first-class  book  on  a  great 
subject,  and  master  it  completely,  chapter  after  chapter, 
paragraph  by  paragraph,  so  that  he  can  state  the  exact  line 
of  thought  in  any  portion  to  himself  or  to  some  patiently 
sympathetic  friend.  The  writer  remembers  to  have  thus 
studied  in  his  earl}^  ministerial  life  Butler's  ''Analogy," 
McCosh  on  the  '' Divine  Government,"  and  several  otlier 
works,  and  can  see  as  he  looks  back  how  the  thought  of 
those  great  books  went  into  his  blood.  The  class-room 
presents  great  advantages;  but  through  life  a  man  must 
be  his  own  teacher,  his  own  pupil,  and  his  own  fellow- 
student,  and  bring  all  the  energies  of  his  being  to  bear 
upon  the  persistent  effort  to  fill  each  of  these  positions 
worthily.  Besides,  the  Abstract  will  be  found  quite  con- 
venient for  consultation  wlien  preparing  sermons.  If  your 
text  involves  some  doctrine,  you  may  easily  turn  to  the 
chapter  treating  that  subject,  and  find  its  main  thought 
separately  and  pointedly  stated,  so  that  you  may  readily 
seize  upon  the  matters  that  are  wanted.  If  now  to  Bojxe's 
Abstract  a  minister  will  add  sucli  a  copious  work  as  Strong's 
''  Systematic  Theology,"  he  will  possess  a  very  admirable 
theological  apparatus,  —  and  both  works  from  American 
Baptists. 

A  volume  ought  to  be  published  of  Dr.-Boyce's  sermons 
and  lectures.  One  of  his  most  delightful  practical  sermons 
(heard  twice  by  the  writer)  was  on  the  text,  *'  This  man 
receiveth  sinners  "  (Luke  xv.  2),  as  illustrated  by  the 
three  parables  of  the  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost  Coin,  and  the 
Lost  Son.  The  difference  in  color  of  the  light  thrown  by 
the  three  illustrations  was  depicted  with  delicate  taste  and 
deep  feeling,  and  the  practical  impression  was  wholesome 
and  powerful.  Another  of  great  interest  was  on  '^  Boliold, 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  "  (Kev.  iii.  20).  It  oi)ens 
with  a  beautiful  description,  which  represents  a  door  long 
closed  and  rusted,  overrun  with  weeds  and  cobwebs,  while 


312  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

one  stands  before  it  and  knocks;  and  the  sermon  well 
sustains  the  interest  tlius  excited.  In  1873  he  prepared 
a  sermon  of  uncommon  vigor  on  ''The  Place  and  Power 
of  Prayer  "  (1  John  v.  14,  15),  suggested  by  the  proj^osi- 
tion  then  familiarly  known  as  "  Tyndall's  prayer-test,'' 
which  became  a  favorite  sensation  with  the  newspapers,  and 
was  much  talked  about  for  several  years.  Some  disciple 
of  Tyndall  had  proposed  that  two  patients  suffering  from 
the  same  disease  should  be  treated  in  the  same  hospital, 
with  exactly  identical  remedies  and  surroundings,  and  that 
one  of  these  should  be  made  the  subject  of  widespread 
praj^er  for  his  recovery,  while  the  other  was  not  prayed  for 
at  all ;  and  the  result  would  show  whether  prayer  has  any 
real  efficacy.  Of  course  no  really  devout  and  thoughtful 
Christian  could  join  in  applying  such  a  test;  for  to  experi- 
ment upon  God's  promises  through  a  manufactured  occa- 
sion is  exactly  what  the  Saviour  was  refusing  to  do  when  he 
quoted  the  words,  ''Thou  shall  not  test  the  Lord  thy 
God."  Dr.  Boyce  did  not  dignify  this  fantastical  propo- 
sition by  an}^  extended  answer,  but  merely  took  it  as  the 
occasion  for  a  thorough-going  discussion  of  the  topic  indi- 
cated. Here  his  powers  were  at  their  best.  His  intellec- 
tual force  was  exerted  in  establishing  and  defending  funda- 
mental truth,  his  interest  in  practical  things  was  awakened 
by  the  practical  issues  raised,  and  his  fervently  devout 
feeling  was  deeply  stirred  by  dwelling  on  the  jH'ivilege 
and  the  duty  of  prayer;  so  that  the  whole  man  was  fully 
enlisted.  This  is  probably  the  foremost  sermon  to  be 
found  among  his  manuscripts.  It  was  preached  at  various 
points  throughout  the  Southern  countr^^,  and  a  number 
of  times  in  Louisville,  being  repeated  by  special  request 
at  Broadway  and  Walnut  Street  churches,  and  given  also 
at  Chestnut  Street  Church  and  at  several  Presbyterian 
churches;  and  it  was  spoken  of  by  mau}^  as  in  a  high 
degree  satisfying  and  helpful. 

A  number  of  other  sermons  may  be  found  among  the 


PUBLISHED  AND  UNPUBLISHED   WRITINGS.     313 

manuscrijits  that  would  be  read  with  decided  interest  and 
great  profit.  One  is  on  The  Unjust  Steward  (Luke  xvi.  D) ; 
another  on  Mary  the  Mother  of  Jesus  (Acts  i.  14);  and 
another  on  The  Incarnate  AVord  (John  i.  14).  Tliere  is  a 
very  pungent  and  solemn  sermon  on  the  Danger  of  Refusing 
the  Son  of  God  (Heb.  xii.  25).  One  of  special  interest 
to  ministers  treats  "The  Value  of  a  Complete  and  Accurate 
Knowledge  of  the  Doctrines  of  Grace  to  the  Successful 
Preaching  of  the  Gospel  "  (Titus  iii.  4-8).  Two  of  the 
latest  sermons  he  wrote  in  full  were  for  the  Broadway 
Baptist  Church  in  1884,  on  John  vi.  66-71,  "To  whom 
shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  But 
there  is  a  later,  written  for  Broadway  in  1886,  on  1  John 
iii.  2.  We  have  heretofore  mentioned  and  quoted  from  the 
excellent  funeral  sermon  on  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  Sr. 

Dr.  Boyce's  Lectures  on  Systematic  Theology  were  of 
course  mainly  incor2:>orated  in  the  published  Abstract; 
but  his  earlier  lectures  on  Polemics,  and  those  in  later 
years  on  Church  Government  and  Pastoral  Duties,  present 
several  of  permanent  interest  and  value.  Especially  no- 
table is  the  Lecture  on  Mormonism,  and  a  popular  Lecture 
given  at  a  church  on  "The  Local  Visible  Ecclesia." 
Before  a  literar}^  club  at  Greenville  he  read  an  Essay  on 
Eve,  as  conceived  and  represented  by  the  poets,  which  was 
extremely  pleasing.  Nothing  interested  him  more  than  to 
ransack  libraries  on  some  particular  theme,  and  bring 
together  all  that  he  thought  valuable.  Besides  jMilton 
and  Mrs.  Browning  ("  Drama  of  Exile  "),  he  found  not  a 
little  in  earlier  and  later  poets  as  to  Eve,  and  exhibited 
and  discussed  the  different  poetical  conceptions  with 
much  taste  and  feeling.  One  side  of  his  gifts  and  culture 
is  probabl}'  better  shown  in  this  Essay  than  in  anything 
else  that  remains  to  us. 


314  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

DECLINING    YEARS   AND   DEATH. 

THE  gout  began  to  show  itself  as  early  as  1871,  being 
inherited  from  his  father.  After  curing  an  attack, 
through  the  powerful  specifics  employed  (sometimes  reliev- 
ing the  pain  within  twenty-four  hours),  Dr.  Boyce's  vig- 
orous constitution  would  rally  with  wonderful  quickness, 
and  in  a  few  days  he  would  seem  thoroughly  well.  It  is 
frequently  true  in  other  cases  as  in  his,  that  a  person  fleshy 
from  childhood  and  through  life  is  never  a  very  large  eater. 
Probably  most  of  us  eat  too  much,  especiall^^  some  who 
have  bad  digestion,  and  remain  comparatively  thin  and 
even  gaunt.  Several  years  after  the  first  attacks  of  gout, 
Dr.  Bojxe  began  to  apj^rehend  other  and  kindred  disorders, 
and  was  induced  to  try  some  proposed  means  of  reducing 
flesh,  cliiefly  by  avoiding  certain  kinds  of  food.  Making 
a  faithful  trial  of  this  for  some  time,  he  became  satisfied 
that  a  reduction  of  general  vigor  was  the  only  marked 
result,  and  returned  to  his  ordinary  simple  and  healthy 
diet. 

As  the  years  went  on,  the  attacks  of  gout  became  some- 
what more  frequent,  and  there  were  increasing  evidences 
of  other  disorder.  In  1882.  while  working  hard  on  the 
first  (unpublished)  issue  of  the  '^  Abstract  of  Theolog}^," 
and  quite  often  during  several  months  writing  new  sermons 
for  the  Broadway  Church, —  together  with  all  the  teaching 
and  financial  labors,  —  he  began  to  suffer  seriously.  Once 
after  a  sermon  he  complained  of  a  bewildered  feeling  in  the 
head,  and  asked  if  he  liad  said  anything  unsuitable;  for  he 
did  not  quite  know  what  he  had  been  sajdng  during  the 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH.  315 

last  minutes.  This  was  evidently  the  result  of  overwork. 
During  that  period,  and  again  in  1886,  1887  (while  pre- 
paring  his  book  for  publication),  he  would  often,  for  weeks 
in  succession,  begin  work  at  five  A.  m.,  and  continue, 
with  variety,  but  no  intermission,  till  eleven  p.  m.,  kept 
up  by  excitement  and  force  of  will,  and  not  conscious  at 
the  time  of  any  serious  damage.  He  also  suffered,  as  did 
Addison  Alexander  and  Count  Cavour,  and  other  famous 
men  of  full  habit  and  great  mental  labors,  from  lack  of 
bodily  exercise.  After  removing  to  Louisville  in  1872, 
he  never  kept  a  carriage,  and  so  did  not  have  the  exercise 
of  driving,  by  which  he  frequently  profited  at  Greenville. 
He  had  not  learned  to  ride  on  horseback  in  youth,  and 
never  attempted  it  after  the  brief  term  of  service  as  Chap- 
plain,  and  as  Aide  to  the  Governor.  He  walked  with 
remarkable  ease  and  grace  for  so  heavy  a  man ;  but  it  pretty 
soon  fatigued  him  in  these  last  years,  and  so  he  rarely 
walked  except  to  lecture,  or  down  street  on  business,  or 
to  market  in  the  morning, —  an  early  task  in  which  he 
took  special  pleasure.  He  never  tried  gjminastic  apparatus. 
The  frequent  railway  trips  required  by  Seminary  affairs 
and  private  business  afforded  his  only  considerable  means 
of  exercise,  and  sometimes  returned  him  in  manifestly 
improved  health ;  though  in  the  later  years  such  a  journey 
was  often  followed  by  an  attack  of  gout. 

The  higher  ranks  of  intellectual  workers  in  our  cities, 
including  the  great  business  men,  now  comprise  many  who 
need  to  make  a  business  of  taking  exercise ;  and  if  they 
onl}^  realized  the  need,  and  would  make  conscience  of  the 
matter  and  faithfully  tr^^  experiments,  every  one  might 
assuredlj^  find  means  of  regularl}^  and  amply  exercising 
the  muscles  in  some  proportion  to  the  exhausting  and 
incessant  strain  he  puts  upon  brain  and  nerves.  The 
necessity  of  replacing  the  worn-out  nerve  and  brain  matter 
by  new  material  derived  from  food,  awakens  appetite,  and 
leads  us  to  eat  freel}^     Then,  if  there  be  a  corresponding 


316  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

break-down  of  muscular  and  fatty  tissue  through  exercise, 
the  digested  food  is  all  usefully  employed  in  replacing  the 
different  kinds  of  tissue;  but  without  this,  more  food  must 
be  digested  than  the  circulation  can  dispose  of,  and  the 
result  is  either  dyspepsia,  as  so  many  of  us  find,  or  gouty 
deposits  in  the  joints,  or  excessive  exertion  and  premature 
decay  of  the  kidneys,  or  the  like.  We  must  all  learn  to 
take  ample  muscular  exercise  qyqvj  day,  and  a  little  walk- 
ing or  driving  is  not  enough.  The  hope  for  most  city  men 
of  mentally  laborious  and  anxious  life  is  believed  to  lie 
in  the  use  of  exercising  apparatus,  at  home  or  in  a  gym- 
nasium. Great  improvements  have  been  made  in  this 
respect  within  a  few  years.  Tlie  gymnasium  of  to-day  does 
not  propose  feats  of  strength  or  agility,  but  moderate 
exercise  for  all  the  most  important  muscles.  Let  us  hope 
that  ''  the  athletic  craze  "  will  prove  to  be  only  the  excess 
accompanying  a  healthy  tendency.  Some  regularl}^  employ 
a  succession  of  gjannastic  movements,  without  any  appa- 
ratus. The  late  Mr.  George  W.  Norton,  of  Louisville,  was 
convinced  that  he  had  prolonged  his  life  several  j^ears 
through  this  practice,  and  similar  cases  are  known  else- 
where. One  must  of  course  add  to  indoor  exercise  such 
walks  and  rides  and  excursions  into  the  country  —  for 
which  the  electric  cars  are  becoming  a  great  convenience 
—  as  will  give  fresh  air  and  change  of  scene.  The  great 
trouble  about  the  whole  matter  is  that  every  one  of  us 
inclines  to  regard  his  case  as  peculiar,  and  to  suppose  that 
he  does  not  need,  or  really  has  not  opj^ortunity  for,  such 
systematic  daily  exercise.  There  are,  of  course,  constitu- 
tional differences,  some  men  needing  it  less  than  others. 

When  he  became  conscious  of  seriously  disordered 
health.  Dr.  Boyce  made  every  effort  to  retard  the  progress 
of  disease,  trying  the  Buffalo  Lithia  Water,  and  the  Hot 
Springs,  as  well  as  specific  medicines.  He  was  both 
resolute  and  cheerful  by  nature,  and  was  ^'sustained  and 
soothed  by  an  unfaltering  trust "  in  the  Providence  of  his 
Heavenlv  Father. 


dp:clining  years  and  death.  317 

lu  May,  1887,  he  requested  the  Board  of  Trustees  to 
appoint  Rev.  F.  H.  Kerfoot,  D.D.,  as  Co- Professor  of 
Theology,  proposing  that  they  shouhl  divide  the  salary. 
His  object  was  to  have  time  during  the  next  session  for 
personal  journeys  in  the  interest  of  the  endowment,  and, 
a  year  later,  for  making  his  long-deferred  trip  to  Europe. 
Dr.  Kerfoot,  a  Virginian,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Columbian 
University  at  Washington  city,  became  a  student  of  the 
Seminary  at  Greenville  in  1869-1870,  and  applied  him- 
self laboriously  and  successfully  to  a  full  half  of  the 
course,  with  the  hope  of  completing  it  in  two  years.  After 
protracted  meeting  work  in  the  summer,  he  returned  the 
following  autumn ;  but  his  health  soon  becaine  seriously 
impaired,  and  it  was  necessary  to  quit.  A  j^ear  or  two 
later  he  took  the  third  year  at  Crozer  Seminary,  and 
was  graduated.  After  this  he  spent  about  two  years  in 
the  University  of  Leipzig  and  on  a  trip  to  Palestine.  Re- 
turning, he  was  for  some  time  Professor  of  German  in 
Georgetown  College,  Ky.,  and  pastor  of  two  neighboring 
churches.  When  the  Seminary  was  removed  to  Louis- 
ville, in  1877,  the  Faculty  desired  his  accession  as  an 
assistant  instructor,  but  jnelded  to  the  urgent  appeal  of 
friends  in  the  Eutaw  Place  Baptist  Church,  Baltimore,  who 
'wished  him  as  pastor.  In  that  church,  and,  some  years 
later,  in  the  Strong  Place  Church,  of  Brooklyn,  he  had  a 
highly  useful  pastoral  career.  This  was  interrupted  by 
an  accidental  fall  from  a  platform,  leading  ultimately  to 
protracted  lameness  and  nervous  troubles;  and,  at  length 
resigning  the  Strong  Place  pastorate,  he  returned,  after 
a  season  of  rest,  to  his  old  church  at  Midway,  Ky.,  and 
entered  the  Seminary  as  a  regular  student  for  1886-1887, 
doing  all  the  class-work  with  thoroughness  and  relish,  and 
taking  his  diplomas  in  the  schools  attended.  And  so  it 
came  to  pass,  in  the  course  of  Providence,  that  he  was 
here  to  relieve  Dr.  Boyce's  failing  strength  and  to  become 
his  successor.     Dr.  Boyce's  letters  show  that  his  plan  was 


318  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

to  let  Dr.  Kerfoot  do  all  the  teaching  during  the  first 
three  or  four  months  of  the  session,  while  he  should  be  on 
collecting  journej^s,  and  then  to  resume  some  of  the  classes 
himself.  But  in  point  of  fact  tlie  business  continued  to 
press,  and  his  health  slowly  failed,  so  that  all  the  work 
was  necessarily  left  to  Kerfoot,  and  his  own  last  teaching 
was  done  in  the  session  of  1886-1887. 

Several  letters  may  now  be  inserted.  The  first  refers 
to  his  birthday. 

To  Miss  Nannie  K.  Lane,  of  Neiv  YorJc,  Jan.  15,  1887. 

Many  thanks  for  your  congratulations.  ...  I  feel  very  young, 
indeed,  except  when  the  gout  seizes  upon  me  and  fills  me  with 
despair.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  me  to  receive  the  many  greetings 
I  have  had,  though  yours  is  the  first  from  any  of  my  nieces  or 
nephews.  I  hope  we  shall  see  much  more  of  each  other  this 
coming  year.  What  a  joy  to  me  was  that  pleasant  Sunday  after- 
noon at  the  Bartholdi  Hotel.  God  bless  you,  dear  Nannie,  for 
your  great  love  to  me. 

The  two  following  show  how  he  was  painfully  toil- 
ing on  to  complete  and  bring  out  his  ''Abstract  of 
Theology  :"  — 

To  3Iessrs.  H.  M.  Wharton  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  Jan.  24,  1887. 

I  find  the  progress  of  my  book  very  much  impeded  by  my 
health,  or  rather  want  of  health.  I  shall  be  forced  to  do  one  of 
two  things,  —  proceed  as  best  I  may,  and  leave  out  much  new 
matter  I  wish  to  introduce,  or  delay  as  long  as  necessary  to  com- 
plete what  I  wish.  Sickness  and  the  quantity  of  proof  received 
and  the  pressure  of  engagements  greatly  hinder  me.  I  had  hoped 
to  get  the  book  out  by  May,  but  think  better  now  to  delay  longer, 
as  I  shall  not  need  it  for  my  classes  until  October  1. 

To  Hon.  Joseph  E.  Brown,  Atlanta,  June  3,  1887. 

I  am  getting  out  a  book  on  Systematic  Theology,  —  a  text- 
book for  students.     I  write  to  ask  your  permission  to  dedicate  it 


D  IOC  LINING   YEARS   AND   DEATH.  319 

to  you.  It  is  the  uuly  way  I  biive  ever  had  of  testifying  to  iny 
high  esteem  and  atfectiou  for  you,  or  of  showing  uiy  gratitude  tor 
your  many  kindnesses  to  my  work,  the  Seminary.  1  trust  you 
will  allow  me  to  so  honor  my  book  as  in  this  humble  way  to  con- 
nect it  with  your  name. 

The  next  letter  refers  to  a  noble  man,  wlio  has  been 
spoken  of  in  a  previous  chapter. 

To  Mrs.  Nimrod  Long,  Bussellville,  Kij.,  April  25,  1887. 

I  returned  to  the  city  this  afternoon,  and  learned  as  I  was  ap- 
proaching it  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  your  dear  husband.  I 
knew  that  his  health  was  very  feeble,  but  did  not  think  when  I 
met  all  of  you  at  Chattanooga  that  the  end  would  come  so  soon. 
I  sympathize  with  you  very  much  in  your  affliction.  I  had 
learned  to  love  him  very  warmly,  as  well  as  to  esteem  him  very 
highly.  He  was  an  excellent  man,  full  of  zeal  for  God,  and 
love  for  his  brethren  and  his  faith,  and  full  of  liberality  and  good 
works.  I  rejoice  to  know  of  his  friendship  for  me,  and  have  felt 
myself  greatly  honored  by  it.  His  loss  to  us  all  is  very  great,  in 
many  respects  irreparable.  To  you  and  his  children  it  must  come 
home  more  sensibly  than  to  any  others.  You  have  the  joy  of  his 
intimate  fellovA'ship  and  strongest  affections.  I  know  somewhat 
from  my  own  past  afflictions  how  your  hearts  must  be  filled  with 
anguish.  But  yet  we  grieve  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope.  We 
shall  see  hhn  again  where  there  will  be  no  parting  forever.  He 
has  but  gone  before  us  to  the  blessed  state  of  the  righteous  wlio 
die  iu  the  Lord.  We  too  must  soon  follow.  May  we  be  as  well 
prepared  !  May  it  be  to  us  as  great  a  joy  as  is  his !  May  this 
hope  of  his  happiness  be  a  comfort  to  you,  and  may  God  be  with 
you  in  your  trial  with  his  comforting  spirit  of  grace  ! 

In  June  was  held  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  Dr.  Boyce's 
class  in  Brown  University.  He  wrote  in  May  to  his  clear 
friend  Dr.  Guild,  expressing  the  liope  that  he  could  at- 
tend, but  wrote  again,  on  June  10,  that  he  found  it  impos- 
sible, without  travelling  on  Sunday,  which  he  could  not 
do.     He  sent  his  ''best  love  to  each  of  the  dear  boys  of 


320  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

'47."  The  University  conferred  upon  him  at  that  Com- 
mencement the  honorary  degree  of  LL.L).,  which  he  had 
previously  also  received  in  1872  from  Union  Univer- 
sity in  Tennessee.  The  following  letter  acknowledges 
the  honor:  — 

To  JRev.  E.  G.  Bobinson,  D.D.,  LL.B.,  President  of  Brown 
University^  Providence,  Jidy  23,  1887. 

Your  kiud  letter  of  July  20  was  received  yesterday,  and  the 
diploma  cauie  to-day.  Y^ou  have  all  been  very  kind  to  me  at 
Brown,  and  I  am  very  grateful.  I  love  the  old  College,  and  those 
associated  with  it,  —  only  the  more  because  of  my  distance  from 
it,  and  the  consequent  fact  that  a  visit  to  it  is  anticipated  with 
hope,  and  remembered  with  unfading  joy.  There  is  no  institu- 
tion which  could  give  me  a  degree  that  would  be  as  highly 
prized  as  one  from  Brown.  Thank  you  for  your  kind  words,  and 
your  expression  of  desire  that  I  may  sometimes  revisit  the  cher- 
ished spot.  I  assure  you  that  I  shall  always  be  pleased  when  I 
can  do  so. 

To  Hon.  W.  A.  Coiirtenaij,  Charleston,  S.  C,  July  15,  1887. 

I  have  this  morning  received  the  copy  of  the  Y^ear  Book  of 
Charleston  for  1886,  which  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send.  I 
thank  you  very  much.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  prize  these 
annual  volumes.  I  have  taken  great  delight  in  reading  them. 
You  are  doing  a  noble  work  in  having  them  prepared,  —  a  woi-k 
done  for  no  other  city,  and  one  which  constantly  awakens  wonder 
at  the  richness  of  the  vein  of  historical  research  connected  with 
the  dear  old  City  by  the  Sea.  It  is  my  pride  to  have  been  born 
in  Charleston,  and  that  pride  is  increased  by  every  volume  of 
the  Y^'ear  Book  which  appears. 

To  William  E.  Bodge,  Esq.,  Neiv  Yorh,  Jidy  4,  1887. 

Your  letter  received  on  my  return  from  a  protracted  absence. 
I  have  awaited  an  opportunity  of  reading  the  book  of  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong,  which  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send  me,  before  answorins: 
the  letter.     I  have  been  greatly  engrossed  with  the  preparation  of 


DECLINING   YEARS  AND  DEATH.  321 

a  text-book  in  Theology  for  my  classes,  which  had  to  be  completed 
before  I  could  take  any  summer  vacaticm.  I  finished  it  only 
last  week,  and  hope  now  to  get  some  rest,  which  I  am  sadly 
needing. 

1  have  read  the  book  of  Dr.  Strong,  "  Our  Country,"  with 
much  interest.  It  is  very  able,  and  presents  an  admirable  col- 
lection and  discussion  of  facts,  for  which  he  deserves  the  thanks 
of  all  good  citizens.  In  one  respect,  however,  I  think  he  has 
made  a  mistake,  which  is  important  in  connection  with  the 
Catholic  controversy.  So  far  from  any  proportionate  increase, 
there  has  been  a  decided  proportionate  decrease  of  Roman  Catho- 
lics. Indeed,  if  the  amount  of  additions  by  immigration  be  taken 
into  account,  the  decline  of  Catholicism  in  this  country  should 
be  appalling  to  them ;  and  but  for  the  substitution  of  so  much  in- 
fidelity for  it,  would  be  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  all  Protestants 
and  patriots.  To  arrive  at  this,  take  the  population  of  17  76,  and 
to  that  add  the  natural  increase  as  shown  by  the  geueral  popula- 
tion, to  that  add  the  immigration  of  each  ten  years  and  its  natural 
increase,  and  see  what  the  figures  would  be.  The  Romanists 
should  have  had  more  than  half  the  population.  I  speak  mod- 
erately. I  think  it  would  be  nearly  three-fourths.  But  they  have 
really  to-day  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  whole  population. 
The  mistake  of  Dr.  Strong  is  in  comparing  the  number  which 
Roman  Catholics  give  with  that  given  by  Protestants,  when  the 
latter  number  is  that  of  the  actual  communicants  of  each  denomi- 
nation, while  the  Romanists  give  that  of  all  adherents.  The 
number  of  communicants  should  be  multiplied  in  each  case  by 
five,  to  give  the  number  of  adherents.  The  figures  thus  to  be 
obtained  will  be  confirmed  by  the  tables  taken  in  1870  by  the 
Government  of  the  number  of  church  sittings  provided  by  each 
denomination.  I  made  some  figures  about  ten  years  since  which 
lead  me  to  say  that  out  of  the  fifty  million  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States  at  that  time,  the  Methodists  and  their  adherents 
had  twenty- five  million,  the  Baptists  fifteen  million,  other  Pro- 
testants and  Jews  five  million,  Romanists  five  million.  I 
am  satisfied  that  this  small  percentage  comprises  all  there  is 
of  Romanists  in  our  country.  In  confirmation,  as  I  have  sug- 
gested, take  the  reports  in  the  census  of  1870  as  to  the  sittings, 
or  provision  made  for  members  of  congregations.  I  only  recol- 
lect  at   present    Kentucky,  and  I  have  no  means  of  access  to 

21 


322  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

the  tables.  But  iu  Keutiicky  the  Baptists  have  more  than  one 
half  of  the  State,  having  somewhat  more  than  all  others,  — 
Protestants,  Jews,  Catholics,  and  all  else.  If  Dr.  Strong  had 
duly  regarded  the  dilierence  between  the  way  iu  which  the  Catho- 
lics report  members  —  counting  as  a  matter  of  course  all  per- 
sons who  are  adherents  of  theirs  —  and  that  in  which  Protest- 
ants generally  count  (I  am  sure  Baptists  do,  and  believe  all  of 
them  do),  namely,  the  actual  communicants,  his  statement  of 
facts  would  have  been  far  otherwise. 

In  July,  1887,  he  took  his  family  on  a  pleasant  journey 
of  tw^o  or  three  months  to  California  and  Alaska.  As 
to  this  tour,  his  eldest  daughter  has  kindly  consented  to 
furnish  some  notes,  which  wall  at  the  same  time  illustrate 
certain  traits  of  his  character. 

"  Father  was  a  delightful  travelling  companion.  He  was  so 
accustomed  to  moving  about  that  he  knew  perfectly  how  to  make 
himself  and  others  comfortable.  He  delighted  to  have  ladies  iu 
his  charge.  Their  many  trunks  and  bundles  gave  him  no  con- 
cern. He  seemed  to  think  it  was  only  proper  that  they  should  be 
made  comfortable.  He  always  thought  out  his  trips,  and  arranged 
everything  so  that  the  greatest  enjoyment  could  be  had  with  the 
least  trouble.  During  the  winter  months  he  would  make  so  many 
plans  for  the  next  summer's  outing  that  we  would  be  fairly 
bewildered  as  to  what  w^e  should  really  do.  Of  course  a  great 
deal  of  his  travelling  in  the  South  was  when  raising  money  for 
the  Seminary.  He  learned  to  eat  anything  that  was  put  before 
him,  and  quite  won  the  hearts  of  country  people. 

''  Having  need  of  only  four  or  five  hours'  sleep,  ho  could  accom- 
modate himself  to  any  hour  of  rising,  and  an  early  country  break- 
fast had  no  terrors  for  him.  Considering  how  constantly  he  was 
on  the  cars,  it  was  strange  that  he  was  never  in  any  accident  of 
any  moment.  He  slept  as  peacefully  in  his  berth  as  in  his  bed. 
Being  very  closely  confined  during  the  winter  months,  the  sum- 
mer was  always  looked  forward  to  by  him  as  the  time  for  rest  and 
recreation.  As  soon  as  he  could  get  away  from  his  work,  he  would 
start  with  his  family  to  mountains  or  sea-shore.  There  he  AA'-ould 
fairly  revel  in  the  lovely  views  and  pure  air  and  the  pleasure  of 
unlimited  companionship  with  his  family.     The  last  years  of  his 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND   DEATH.  323 

life  his  trips  were  more  extended.  lu  this  his  family  tried  to  en- 
courage liini,  as  it  was  felt  that  he  should  get  so  far  from  his  home 
that  business  cares  would  perforce  be  too  far  away  to  be  constantly 
troubling  his  mind. 

"  In  1887  he  went  to  California  and  Alaska.  We  all  look  back 
upon  this  trip  as  most  satisfactory  in  many  respects.  He  had 
begun  to  show  signs  of  his  health  breaking  down  completely. 
Being  overburdened  and  overworked,  he  really  prolonged  his  life 
by  going  so  far  from  his  home.  No  letters  or  papers  reached  him 
for  weeks,  and  though  he  occasionally  worried  over  this  depri- 
vation, on  the  whole  it  had  an  excellent  effect  upon  him.  He 
entered  M-ith  ardor  into  the  trip,  enjoyed  everything,  and  soon 
commenced  to  look  like  a  different  man.  Our  route  was  from 
Louisville  to  Kansas  City,  thence  to  Mauitou,  through  the  Ar- 
kansas Caiiou,  returning  to  the  Central  Pacific,  then  to  Saci'a- 
meuto  and  San  Francisco  (where  we  remained  five  days),  then  to 
the  Yosemite  Valley.  We  entered  the  Valley  from  the  Cliffs,  and 
had  what  we  considered  quite  a  breakneck  ride  down  the  steep 
path.  We  were  told  to  allow  our  horses  great  freedom,  —  not  to 
attempt  to  guide  them,  but  only  to  hold  the  bridle  lightly,  in  case 
they  should  stumble.  We  were  quite  willing  to  trust  ourselves  to 
them  as  soon  as  we  found  how  carefully  they  picked  their  way,  and 
how  sure-footed  they  seemed  to  be.  This  lack  of  necessity  to 
guide  them  allowed  us  to  gaze  at  our  leisure  upon  the  beautiful 
scene  before  us.  It  seemed  to  us  impossible  that  anything  could 
be  more  beautiful.  The  snowy  cliffs  bathed  in  the  last  gleams  of 
tbe  sun,  the  atmosphere  of  shimmering  blue,  the  magnificent  trees, 
the  cascades,  the  ever- changing  vistas,  —  all  combined  to  make  a 
scene  that  brought  to  our  minds  the  description  of  the  mountains 
from  which  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  was  said  to  look  on  the  beautiful 
land  of  Beulah.  We  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  visit  the  Yosemite 
during  the  dry  season,  and  consequently  suffered  a  great  deal  from 
the  dust.  The  dust  from  the  roads  poured  over  the  wheels  of  our 
carriage  like  water  in  a  mill-race.  It  was  iinpossible  to  keep 
ourselves  respectable.  The  fine  dust  settled  in  our  sashes,  hair, 
depressions  and  wrinkles  in  the  fi\ce,  until  we  felt  like  animated 
dust-heaps.  As  soon  as  we  arrived  at  the  different  resting-places 
we  were  immediately  met  by  an  immaculate  Chinaman,  who 
dusted  us  vigorously  before  we  were  allowed  to  take  a  step. 


324  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

"  We  reinained  in  the  Yosemite  only  a  clay  or  two,  as  our  time 
was  limited,  and  then  left  for  a  visit  to  the  big  trees.  As  we 
approached  this  region  the  trees  became  larger,  taller,  and  more 
perfect  in  shape ;  our  eyes  becoming  gradually  accustomed  to 
them,  we  were  actually  unimpressed  when  we  first  saw  the  great 
Sequoias,  though  our  large  wagonette,  holding  three  on  each  seat, 
was  driven  easily  through  the  hollowed  trunk  of  one  still  stand- 
ing, and  apparently  in  flourishing  condition.  Though  we  took  a 
cord  and  measured  another,  so  as  to  give  us  an  idea  of  the  circum- 
ference and  to  be  able  to  convince  our  friends  at  home  by  demon- 
stration, still  we  could  not  take  in  their  great  size.  It  was 
only  on  our  return  home,  when  in  attempting  to  describe  them  we 
unwound  and  stretched  out  the  string  with  which  we  had  meas- 
ured the  trunk,  that  we  began  to  realize  how  enormous  they  were. 
To  tell  the  truth,  we  began  to  feel  doubtful  about  the  correct 
measurement  ourselves,  and  were  very  glad  to  have  our  silent 
witness  with  us. 

'^  While  in  California  we  visited  Santa  Barbara,  where  we  saw 
the  crimson  passion-flower,  covering  the  tall  trees  as  a  luxuriant 
vine ;  Santa  Monica,  the  seaport  of  Los  Angeles,  which  was  at 
that  time  in  the  spasms  of  a  boom,  with  every  other  man  a  real 
estate  agent,  and  lots  at  fabulous  prices ;  Passadena,  Monterey, 
and  near  Monterey  the  famous  park  and  grounds  of  the  Hotel  del 
Monti.  The  old  hotel  had  been  burned  one  year  before,  and  the 
new  building  was  not  completed ;  but  we  did  not  regret  our  visit 
there,  as  we  saw  the  unique  and  weird  Arizona  garden,  which  is 
such  a  surprise  to  the  lovers  of  flowers.  The  plants  were  very 
queer,  and  many  of  them  never  before  seen  by  us.  The  tennis- 
courts  were  surrounded  by  tall  wire  screens,  over  which  purple 
clematis  ran  in  the  greatest  profusion.  The  cacti  in  this  garden 
were  so  distorted  and  curious  in  their  growth  that  they  were  posi- 
tively uncanny.  On  returning  to  San  Francisco  we  remained  a 
week,  and  then  went  by  sea  to  Portland.  We  passed  through  the 
Golden  Gate  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  beautiful 
as  a  dream,  even  lovelier  than  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson,  and 
having  a  resemblance  to  them.  We  had  a  rather  rough  trip,  and 
were,  with  the  exception  of  Father,  all  sick.  We  reached  Port- 
land, remaining  there  several  days;  then  went  on  from  there  to 
Port  Townsend,  where  we  were  to  take  our  Alaska  steamer.     We 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH.  325 

were  detained  there  several  days,  and  a  dreary  little  place  it  was. 
When  we  at  last  got  t»tf,  we  were  in  the  highest  spirits  and  ready 
to  enjoy  the  wonders  of  Alaska.  We  went  up  as  high  as  the 
Muir  Glacier,  then  to  Sitka,  Victoria,  Tacoma,  and  then  home, 
by  way  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  stopping  in  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul, 
and  Chicago." 

This  journey  brought  marked  improvement  to  his  health 
and  hopefulness,  as  shown  by  the  following  letter  to  his 
eldest  sister:  — 


To  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Lafie,  New  York,  Dec.  U,  1887. 

Yours  of  December  12th  received  this  morning.  .  I  am  sorry 
you  have  been  troubled  about  my  health.  I  assure  you  that  I  am 
getting  on  very  well.  My  health  has  been  very  much  better  ever 
since  I  went  to  the  Pacific  coast-  My  girls  and  wife  think  that 
I  have  also  been  much  improved  by  last  month's  agency  work. 
It  is  true  that  I  am  not  so  strong  as  I  was  two  years  ago,  but  ever 
so  much  better  than  when  I  saw  you  last  spring.  I  shall  get  to 
New  York  some  time  this  winter,  and  you  will  see  all  this,  unless 
I  have  some  reverse.  I  take  great  care  of  myself.  It  is  because 
I  am  so  careful,  and  rested  so  much  at  Richmond,  that  Beck  sup- 
posed me  much  weaker  than  I  was.  I  would  not  work  more  than 
five  hours  each  day.  What  troubled  me  was  that  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  work  would  take  much  longer  than  I  had  supposed. 

My  attacks  of  gout  are  now  much  less  frequent  and  much  less 
severe,  and  I  think  I  am  doing  very  well. 

God  grant  us  both  better  health,  if  he  sees  fit;  but  if  not,  I  am, 
for  myself,  more  than  contented.  My  work  for  the  Seminary  is 
almost  done.  I  can  leave  it  very  soon  beyond  all  ordinary  risk, 
and  so  that,  with  God's  blessing,  all  will  go  well.  My  Estate  mat- 
ters are  in  such  a  condition  as  will  give  little  trouble  to  any  of 
you,  should  I  die.  My  own  private  afiairs  need  some  more  atten- 
tion, and  I  should  like  to  have  sold  out  all  the  Estate  property  and 
turned  it  over,  by  dividing  it  to  the  difi'erent  Trust  Estates.  I 
think  I  can  sell  it  to  better  advantage  than  any  one  else.  On 
these  accounts  I  care  to  live  somewhat  longer.  Otherwise, 
except  for  my  love  for  family  and  friends,  I  have  no  such  desire. 


326  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

Yet,  to  speak  candidly,  I  think  I  shall  outlive  any  of  you,  except 
Rebecca,  and  perhaps  Kerr.^ 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  sister.  The  Lord  has  been  very 
gracious  to  you,  and  I  think  is  drawing  you  nearer  and  still  nearer 
to  himself.  May  he  spare  you  to  us  all  somewhat  longer !  Yet  if 
not,  ours  will  be  the  grief,  and  yours  the  joy. 

The  day  after  this  cheerful  letter  was  written,  there 
came  upon  the  Seminary  a  grave  calamity.  Dr.  Manly 
and  his  family  were  boarding  in  the  suburbs  of  Louisville, 
beyond  the  Water  Works.  At  dusk,  on  Dec.  15,  1887, 
while  walking  from  the  railway  station  to  the  house,  he 
and  his  host  were  knocked  down  by  robbers  with  a  sudden 
blow  on  the  head,  and  it  was  perhaps  fifteen  minutes  before 
he  recovered  sufficiently  to  go  on  to  the  house.  He  resumed 
teaching  too  soon,  and  had  to  go  away  for  some  time,  at 
the  entreaty  of  his  colleagues.  The  blow  served  to  develop 
a  valvular  disease  of  the  heart,  besides  permanently  weak- 
ening his  excellent  constitution;  and  Dr.  Boyce  was 
oppressed  with  the  fear  that  his  valued  colleague  would 
not  have  many  added  years  of  usefulness.^ 

Although  his  health  was  now  considerably  improved, 
Dr.  Bojxe  found  himself  unable,  as  heretofore  stated,  to 
take  any  part  in  the  teaching  during  the  session  of  1887- 
1888.  For  several  months  he  did  a  good  deal  of  agency 
work  for  the  endowment,  striving  to  bring  it  up  to  the 
point  of  furnishing  income  enough  for  the  annual  expenses 
of  the  Seminary.  During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1888 
his  health  was  steadily  declining.  In  May,  at  E-ichmond, 
as  Dr.  Mell  had  passed  away,  other  brethren  nominated 
declined,   and  Boyce  was   almost  by  acclamation  elected 

1  This  was  sadly  fulfilled  in  great  measure.  Mrs.  Lane  died  the 
ensuing  summer,  and  Mrs.  Tupper  in  the  autumn  ;  Mr.  Kerr  Boyce 
early  in  1892.     Only  Mrs.  Burekmyer  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  remain. 

2  Dr.  Manly  did  excellent  work  in  the  following  years,  but  never 
fully  recovered,  and  died  on  Jan.  31,  1892,  beloved  and  lamented.  It 
is  hoped  that  a  Memoir  of  him  will  appear. 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH.  327 

President  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  once  more. 
He  presided  in  manifest  bodily  weakness,  but  with  all  tlie 
high  courtesy  and  cordiality  of  former  years.  In  the  early 
summer  it  became  manifest  that  the  only  chance  of  improv- 
ing his  condition  and  living  for  any  further  work  was  to 
take  his  family  abroad  for  a  long  time.  At  various 
periods  of  his  life,  from  early  maturity,  we  have  met  with 
expressions  of  desire  to  visit  Europe.  During  these  last 
years  the  desire  had.  been  strengthened  by  the  wish  to  give 
his  daughters  the  opportunity  of  gratifying  their  taste 
and  cultivating  their  powers  in  regard  to  music  and  art, 
as  well  as  of  visiting  with  his  family  the  scenes  of  historic 
and  literary  interest  about  which  they  had  been  reading 
through  life.  Perhaps  only  some  persons  can  fully  appre- 
ciate the  great  sacrifice  he  had  made  through  many  years 
in  postponing  this  high  privilege  for  himself  and  his  wife 
and  daughters.  Besides  the  long  struggle  to  establish  the 
Seminary,  he  had  borne  many  burdens  of  toil  and  anxiety 
in  regard  to  his  father's  estate,  including  properties  which 
could  not  yet  be  disposed  of  without  sacrifice,  and  in  some 
cases  annual  wants  which  he  must  assist  in  supplying. 
There  were  also  some  important  investments  of  his  own 
which  had  not  been  in  a  satisfactory^  condition,  and  added 
much  anxiety  to  his  declining  years.  But  in  the  summer 
of  1888  the  way  seemed  to  open  for  going  abroad.  Dr. 
Kerfoot  had  shown  himself  well  able  to  keep  up  the  teach- 
ing, and  was  also  specially  fitted  to  continue  the  work  of 
General  Agent,  while  the  duties  of  Treasurer  he  could  him- 
self perform  through  arrangements  made  beforehand  and 
the  help  of  his  faithful  secretary,  Mr.  Almond.  Kerfoot 
could  remove  his  family  down  from  Midway,  and  occupy 
the  Boyce  residence.  The  endowment  had  not  reached 
the  necessary  point,  but  it  was  possible  to  keep  the  Sem- 
inary going.  New  York  Hall  had  been  entered,  greatly 
brightening  the  inner  life  of  the  Seminary.  The  business 
of  his  father's  estate  had  come  into  a  more  manageable 


328  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

condition,  and  his  own  affairs  were  more  satisfactory.     So 
the  long-deferred  trip  to  Europe  was  now  practicable. 

Let  us  insert  here  some  further  notes,  kindly  prepared 
by  Miss  Lizzie  Boyce :  — 

''  At  first  his  attacks  of  gout  were  at  long  intervals,  but  towards 
the  ten  last  years  of  his  life  they  began  to  be  more  frequent. 
About  two  years  before  his  death  he  was  apt  to  be  laid  up  every 
two  weeks.  The  tendency  to  rheumatism  and  gout  was  clearly 
an  inheritance  with  him,  as  many  of  his  ftimily  connection  were 
similarly  affected  ;  two  of  his  brothers  used  crutches  during  many 
of  their  last  years.  Father  bore  his  suffering  with  great  patience ; 
his  books  would  be  his  cons(.lation  at  such  a  time.  He  would 
have  them  piled  up  on  the  table  beside  him,  and  on  his  bed.  He 
would  write  letters  by  the  quantity,  and  seemed  to  us  to  accomplish 
as  much  in  a  certaia  way  as  when  well.  As  soon  as  he  could 
manage  to  stand,  he  was  up  and  hard  at  work  again.  It  was 
useless  for  the  doctor  to  scold,  useless  for  us  to  protest.  He  was 
pressed  in  so  many  ways  with  important  duties  that  he  felt 
compelled  to  take  up  his  burden  again  without  delay. 

''  The  task  of  revising,  and  often  rewriting,  his  text-book  on 
Systematic  Theology,  and  of  correcting  the  proof,  was  a  great 
burden  to  one  already  overworked  and  suffering.  He  would 
frequently  become  so  exhausted  that  he  could  scarcely  hold  him- 
self erect  in  his  chair.  In  this  last  year  his  malady  caused  him  to 
to  be  tormented  with  unnatural  drowsiness,  which  hampered  hun 
greatly  in  his  work, —  in  truth,  he  was  apt  to  fall  asleep,  unless  he 
forced  his  attention,  when  conversing  with  his  friends,  or  at  any 
time.  This  symptom  alarmed  us  so  much  that  we  begged  the 
physician.  Dr.  Hollo  way,  to  use  his  authority  and  put  a  stop  to 
Father's  continuing  the  work  upon  his  book.  The  doctor  warned 
him  that  no  man  could  stand  the  strain  he  was  undergoing 
without  shortening  his  life,  and  that  he  was  even  then  in  a  very 
dangerous  condition.  Father  agreed  tl«it  the  work  proved  more 
exhausting  than  he  had  expected,  but  he  had  begun,  and  now 
wished  to  finish  it.  He  added  that  he  had  not  time  to  rest,  as  his 
business  aftairs  and  his  duties  to  the  Seminary  were  more  pressing 
than  ever,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  pursue  any  other 
course.     Later  on,  he  had  one  night  a  heart  attack,  the  nature  of 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND   DEATH.  329 

which  we  did  not  uuderstand.  He  entered  the  room  where  we 
were  seated,  gasping  for  breath,  and  with  his  complexion  so  ashy 
that  he  presented  a  most  ahirming  appearance.  It  was  nearly 
midnight,  and  no  servant  in  the  house ;  but  I  ran  to  a  neighboring 
drug-store  and  telephoned  the  doctor.  By  the  time  he  arrived, 
Father  was  better,  and  soon  afterwards  felt  much  relieved;  but 
after  this  attack  I  noticed  that  any  exertion  made  him  pant  for 
breath. 

'•''  We  were  all  so  worried  over  his  state  of  health  that  we  began 
to  urge  Father  to  take  a  sea- voyage.  The  d«jctor  said  that  unless 
we  could  put  a  stop  to  his  working,  he  would  certainly  die  within 
six  months.  This  was  so  alarming  that  we  used  every  effort  to 
persuade  him  to  take  a  prolonged  trip.  He  then  decided  to  go 
abroad,  and  remain  there  an  indefinite  period,  until  his  health 
improved,  returning  to  America  at  intervals  for  attention  to  press- 
sing  business,  and  yet  spending  most  of  his  time  abroad.  This 
plan  of  being  absent  for  a  long  and  indefinite  time  caused  him  to 
work  more  and  more  ardently  in  trying  to  arrange  his  aftairs.  I 
fear  that  this  extra  labor  proved  fatal  to  the  end  we  had  in  view. 
By  the  time  we  were  packed  up  and  everything  arranged,  he  was 
in  a  most  alarming  condition,  and  by  the  time  we  reached  New 
York  to  take  our  steamer,  I  began  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  our 
going  at  all.  We  feared  to  go,  and  we  feared  to  return.  Remem- 
bering that  he  was  an  excellent  sailor,  never  suftering  from  sea- 
sickness, we  concluded  that  we  would  at  least  not  say  anything 
until  we  reached  Liverpool.  If  he  was  then  worse,  we  would 
insist  upon  returning  at  once." 

The  last  days  at  home  were  saddened  b}^  the  death  of 
his  oldest  sister,  Mrs.  Lane,  of  Xew  Y''ork,  a  woman  of  noble 
character  and  deep  devoutness,  belonging  to  the  famous 
little  Amity  Street  Baptist  Church,  with  the  celebrated 
scholar,  Dr.  AVilliam  R.  AVilliams,  as  long  her  pastor  and 
friend. 

To  Mrs.  C.  B.  Burckmyer,  July  29,  1888. 

I  suppose  Sister  was  either  buried  yesterday,  or  will  be  to-day. 
I  presume  you  were  telegraphed  of  her  death  Friday  just  before 
noon.     It  is  her  great  gain,  but  our  sore  loss.     We  shall  never 


330  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

know  how  good  she  was,  uor  how  much  she  loved  us  all.  This 
almost  breaks  up  New  York  to  me.  It  was  my  great  misfortune 
not  to  be  able  to  go  on  to  the  funeral,  but  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  leave  before  to-morrow  (Monday)  afternoon.  I  therefore  tele- 
graphed them  not  to  delay  cm  my  account.  We  shall  be  at  the 
Bartholdi  Hotel,  Twenty-third  and  Broadway,  and  leave  per 
"Etruria"  on  Saturday,  August  4th.  God  bless  you  and  yours. 
Good-bye. 

We   have    the    following    letters   written    during    the 
voyage :  — 

To  Mrs.  BurcJcmyer,  Aug.  7,  1888,  ^'  en  voyage.^^ 
I  am  going  to  write  some  letters  to  be  mailed  at  Queeustown, 
and  I  write  to  you  first  of  all.  You  will  be  astonished  to  learn 
that  none  of  us  have  been  sea-sick,  except  a  slight  qualm  or  two 
on  the  first  day  for  two  of  the  girls.  My  wife  has  not  been  sick 
at  all,  for  which  she  is  occasionally  very  grateful.  Our  vessel  is 
a  very  fine  one,  steady  and  fast,  and  our  accommodations  are  very 
good.  The  food  is  not  extraordinary,  but  it  is  well  cooked,  and 
abundant  of  its  kind.  There  is  no  large  crowd,  and  we  are  there- 
fore the  more  comfortable.  I  do  not  see  where  the  steamer-chairs 
could  be  placed  if  we  had  double  our  number.  I  know  none  of 
the  passengers.  .  .  .  Looking  over  the  above,  I  fear  you  will  not 
be  able  to  read  it.  I  am  writing  on  a  book,  contrary  to  my  habit 
of  using  a  table.  I  sit  on  the  lounge  in  my  state-room,  and 
write  the  best  I  can.  It  will  be  your  business  to  read  the  letter, 
mine  simply  to  write  it.  I  am  trying  a  new  food  for  my  wife, 
bovinine,  which  Sister  used  for  several  months,  and  which  was 
strongly  recommended  to  me  by  Amanda  Lane  and  Lizzie  Law- 
rence. My  wife  thus  far  consents  to  take  it,  and  I  trust  will  con- 
tinue. If  i  find  I  can  get  it  in  London,  I  shall  try  it  myself.  We 
expect  to  be  at  Liverpool  on  Sunday.  We  have  changed  our 
phins.  I  had  intended  to  go  through  Ireland  first,  and  then  Scot- 
land, and  then  England.  But  as  I  do  not  feel  very  strong,  and 
the  trip  through  Ireland  would  be  rough,  we  have  decided  to  go 
to  Liverpool,  and  then  probably  branch  off  into  Scotland,  finally 
reaching  London,  — thus  leaving  the  Irish  travel  for  some  other 
time.  At  the  end  of  this  journey  we  shall  either  stop  in  London 
for  a  few  weeks,  or  go  to  some  quiet  place,  like  the  Isle  of  Wight, 


DECLINING  YEARS   AND   DEATH.  331 

unless  the  doctor  yon  get  me  should  send  me  to  Carlsbad  or  some 
other  springs.  .  .  .  We  have  had  a  slight  raiu  almost  all  tiie 
time  from  Sunday  morning,  and  the  temperature  has  been  so  cool 
that  I  have  enjoyed  winter  tiannel,  witli  l)laukets  and  wraps.  I 
shall  hope  to  get  a  letter  from  you  sotm  after  my  arrival.  I  do  so 
much  wish  that  we  could  have  had  the  company  of  your  family. 
The  trip  would  then  have  been  a  perfect  pleasure,  and  I  am  sure 
if  anything  could  make  me  well  it  would  be  to  have  you  with  me 
always.  The  feeling  of  sadness  natural  to  our  starting  off  to  be 
absent  for  so  long  a  time  has  naturally  been  increased  by  the  con- 
dition of  my  wife's  health  and  my  own,  and  by  the  death  of  our 
dear  sister.  But  I  try  to  rest  myself  entirely  upon  the  care  and 
protection  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  knowing  that  he  not  only 
knows  what  is  best,  but  will  assuredly  will  what  is  best. 

The  other  letter,  written  at  sea  three  days  later,  is  to 
Mrs.  Arthur  Peter,  of  Louisville.  During  the  first  year 
of  his  res.idence  in  Louisville,  before  removing  his  family, 
he  was  long  the  guest  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Peter,  and  formed 
with  them  a  cherished  friendship. 

*'  Among  all  the  friends  whom  I  have  left  in  Louisville,  there  is 
no  one  I  have  thought  of  so  often  since  leaving  as  yourself.  You 
have  always  been  so  kind  to  me  that  I  have  felt  myself  somewhat 
nearer  to  you  than  to  a  mere  friend,  so  much  so  that  I  could  not 
have  loved  you  more,  had  we  been  blood  relations.  .  .  .  We  have 
had  a  delightful  voyage  thus  hr,  and  we  are  fast  nearing  its  end. 
When  the  reckoning  of  the  ship  was  taken  to-day  at  noon,  we 
were  only  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  Queenstown,  and 
we  shall  be  there  to-morrow  morning,  and  reach  Liverpool  in  the 
afternoon.  My  wife  has  been  greatly  surprised.  She  felt  sure 
she  would  be  sea-sick.  But  no  one  of  us  has  missed  a  single 
meal,  and  we  have  been  able  most  of  the  time  to  be  on  deck.  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  we  cannot  report  any  improvement  of  health 
thus  far.  I  am  very  weak,  antl  can  hardly  crawl  up  on  the  deck. 
Walking  even  a  short  distance,  with  the  uncertain  footing  one  has 
on  the  boat,  is  very  fatiguing.  But  I  look  forward  to  a  change 
in  this  respect  as  soon  as  we  land.  My  wife  also  is  able  to  eat 
but  little,  though  complaining  bitterly  of  hunger. 


332  MEMOIR   OF   JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

"  You  will  pardon  me  that  I  have  written  thus  exclusively  about 
ourselves.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  I  have  nothing  else  to 
write  about,  and  to  the  further  fact  that  I  Hatter  myself  I  could 
write  to  you  at  present  of  nothing  more  interesting  to  yourself  and 
your  dear  husband.  You  wnll  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  I  have  not  crammed  up  from  the  guide-book  for  tlie 
materials  of  this  letter.  No  one  can  tell  whether  he  will  not  be 
tempted  sometimes  to  do  so,  in  trying  to  tell  of  interesting  matters 
to  distant  friends. 

*' My  wife  and  girls  send  their  best  love  to  you.  Mine  you 
already  have,  and  I  can  send  no  more  than  has  already  been  be- 
stowed.   Give  our  love  to  your  husband  and  all  your  family." 

We  may  now  proceed  with  the  notes  of  Miss  Boyce: 

"  We  remained  in  Liverpool  five  days.  During  this  time  Father 
ran  down  to  London  to  see  about  his  money  arrangements  before 
starting  on  the  trip  to  Scotland.  I  shudder  now  when  I  think 
how  great  a  risk  he  ran  on  this  occasion.  We  doubted  at  the 
time  whether  he  should  go  alone,  but  he  insisted  that  he  needed 
no  one,  and  as  his  trip  was  to  be  a  flying  one,  we  yielded.  When 
he  reached  London,  he  took  a  cab  to  the  Bank.  While  passing 
along  the  crowded  street,  his  horse  fell,  and  he  was  precipitated  to 
the  ground.  He  told  us  this  with  much  amusement  upon  his 
return  to  Liverpool,  and  laughingly  described  the  way  the  crowd 
scrambled  to  get  the  pennies  he  threw  them  for  having  helped  him 
up  and  raised  the  horse.  But  all  this  time  he  was  in  danger  of 
sudden  death  from  heart-failure,  and  the  doctors  consulted  in 
London  a  month  later  told  me  it  was  a  miracle  that  he  had  not 
died  at  that  moment.  Remembering  that  we  were  alone  in 
Liverpool,  without  friends  or  money,  I  doubt  if  we  should  ever 
have  been  able  to  have  traced  him.  Happily  he  was  not  in 
the  least  hurt,  and  returned  to  us  looking  better  than  he  had 
for  some  time  past. 

*'  Our  first  move  was  to  Chester.  This  place  was  so  exceedingly 
quaint  and  interesting,  with  its  cathedral,  the  first  specimen  of  the 
lovely  architecture  we  had  read  so  much  of,  that  our  stay  was  an 
unalloyed  jdeasure. 

'^  In  Scotland  we  went  to  Glasgow,  arriving  in  time  to  see  the 
Exposition    opened  by  Queen  Victoria.     We   had   difficulty   in 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH.  333 

geting  rooms  at  the  hotels,  owing  to  the  large  crowds  in  the  city. 
Our  hotel  was  near  the  station,  and  we  had  a  fine  time  watching 
the  putting  up  of  decorations  all  around.  Seats  were  erected  on 
the  principal  streets,  and  we  got  a  comfortable  place  to  see  the 
procession.  We  had  an  excellent  view  of  Her  Majesty,  with  Prin- 
cess Beatrice,  Princess  Alice  of  Hesse,  and  other  notables.  The 
Queen  impressed  us  as  a  haughty-looking  woman.  She  bowed 
constantly,  but  coldly,  to  the  enthusiastic  crowd.  The  younger 
ladies  really  seemed  to  be  enjoying  themselves,  and  dispersed 
bows  and  smiles  right  and  left.  While  waiting  for  the  Queen  we 
enjoyed  the  passing  of  the  Highland  troops,  all  the  dans  being 
represented.  We  heard  the  bagpipes  for  the  first  time  really 
well  played,  and  found  the  music  quite  stirring  and  impressive. 
At  the  Exposition  we  saw  the  Jubilee  presents  to  the  Queen,  and 
noticed  how  even  the  poorest  gift  was  well  displayed. 

"Then  we  went  to  Edinburgh,  Stirling,  and  so  forth.  At 
Abbotsford  Father  was  particularly  interested  in  the  collection 
of  arms  and  curios,  as  liis  much-prized  Abbotsford  edition  of  the 
Waverley  Novels  has  numerous  illustrations  made  from  drawings 
of  objects  in  this  collection.  He  was  also  pleased  with  Melrose, 
Dryburgh,  and  Eoslyn  Chapel.  In  the  Highlands  and  elsewhere, 
Father  enjoyed  coaching  through  the  country. 

''  After  visiting  the  English  lakes,  we  went  to  London,  as  he 
was  far  from  looking  improved,  and  we  thought  it  best  for  him 
to  see  his  physician  before  undertaking  a  further  trip.  Through- 
out this  sight-seeing  he  was  only  able  to  get  glimpses  of  the 
places  and  things  he  had  so  often  anticipated  visiting.  He  would 
sit  patiently  in  the  carriage,  waiting  for  us  as  long  as  we  wished, 
and  only  occasionally  venturing  to  move  about  a  little  when  feel- 
ing particularly  bright  and  well.  It  was  positively  heart-rending 
to  see  him.  Many  of  the  objects  we  looked  at  through  blinding 
tears,  as  we  thought  how  entirely  he  was  cut  ofi"  from  everything. 
He  said  he  was  content  if  we  w^ould  only  enjoy  ourselves ;  but 
how  could  we  under  such  circumstances  ? 

"  At  the  National  Gallery  in  London  he  got  his  first  view  of 
the  English  masterpieces.  On  Sunday  we  went  to  Spurgeon's 
Tabernacle.  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  seated,  and  apologized  for  not 
standing  while  he  preached,  saying  that  he  was  unable  to  stand 
any  length  of  time.    We  were  much  struck  with  Father's  likeness 


334  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

to  lum.  Father  noticed  it  himself,  and  said  he  wished  he  was  as 
much  like  him  in  preaching  power.  After  the  service  we  went  to 
Mr.  Spurgeon's  room  in  the  rear,  and  received  a  warm  welcome. 
Mr.  Spurgeon  did  not  then  seem  near  so  much  like  Father  as  we 
had  thought,  as  he  had  not  the  breadth  of  brow,  and  his  foce  was 
more  seamed.  He  asked  Father  to  speak  at  the  Pastor's  College. 
When  told  our  errand  in  London,  —  that  we  had  come  especially 

to  consult  Sir Garrod,  who  was    described   to   us   as   '  the 

greatest  authority  in  the  world  on  gout  and  kindred  diseases/  — 
he  smiled,  and  said, '  Well,  perhaps  he  may  do  you  good ;  he  has 
a  great  reputation ;  but  as  for  me,  I  believe  in  none  of  them,  — 
none  have  helped  me.'  He  was  at  this  time  just  recovering  from 
a  severe  attack  of  gout. 

''  Father  was  so  much  excited  by  this  interview  with  the  great 
preacher  that  he  became  pale  and  exhausted,  and  began  to  pant 
for  breath ;  so  we  had  to  cut  short  our  stay,  and  leave  for  the 
hotel.  Much  moved  by  this  meeting,  his  eyes  filled  with  tears  as 
he  went  away,  and  he  said  to  me,  '  How  little  I  have  accom- 
plished, compared  with  that  man!  If  I  can  only  get  well  and  live 
a  few  years  longer,  I  '11  make  greater  efforts.' " 

On  Monday,  September  3,  be  wrote  to  Mrs.  Burckmyer, 
telling  of  various  things  which  have  been  narrated  above, 
and  added :  — 

''  I  have  been  singularly  struck  by  the  great  resemblance  between 
England  and  South  Carolina.  I  had  no  idea  that  Charleston  and 
its  surroundings  had  borrowed  so  much  in  its  early  days,  nor  that 
the  two  distant  places  had  continued  to  preserve  the  same  old 
fashions.  I  have  found  everywhere  houses  of  the  same  kind  of 
dark  brick,  walls  like  those  around  so  many  Charleston  places, 
—  Judge  King's,  for  instance,  —  farm-houses  just  like  those  on 
the  old  plantations  in  South  Carolina,  built  of  brick.  In  the 
homes  you  see  the  same  kind  of  papering,  like  tapestry,  that  I 
used  to  see  at  Aunt  Henry's  house  in  Anson  Street,  and  the  old- 
fashioned  Venetian  blinds  everywhere  that  were  in  all  the  houses 
when  I  was  a  boy,  with  the  same  wooden,  carved  cornice- work  that 
is  seen  in  old  Charleston  houses.  Every  day  as  I  have  travelled 
I  have  had  cause  to  call  attention  to  these  resemblances." 


DECLINING  YEARS   AND   DEATH.  335 

Miss  Boyce  proceeds :  — 

''  Monday  morning  we  went  to  the  British  Museum,  and  Father 
went  to  see  Dr.  Garrod,  but  found  him  absent,  and  was  exam- 
ined by  his  son  and  associate  in  the  profession.  About  an  hour 
afterwards,  as  we  were  standing  in  one  of  the  great  rooms  of  the 
Museum,  we  saw  him  approaching,  with  a  pale  but  quiet  look, 
aud  when  we  anxiously  questioned,  he  said  that  the  doctor  thought 
him  in  a  dangerous  condition,  aud  had  told  him  to  go  to  bed  at 
once.  We  returned  to  the  hotel,  and  presently  Dr.  Garrod  aud 
another  physician  arrived.  They  examined  him  carefully,  and 
then,  in  a  private  interview,  told  me  plainly  that  he  might  die  at 
any  moment.  I  entreated  them  to  help  me  get  him  home;  but 
they  objected,  saying  that  he  would  probably  die  at  sea.  The 
horror  of  this  overcame  me.  Dr.  Garrod  advised  a  change  to  a 
quiet  boarding-place,  and  after  visitiug  several  places  which  he 
recommended,  we  chose  one  pleasantly  situated  on  Conduit  Street, 
near  Oxford  Circus.  The  doctor  brought  his  own  carriage, 
and  assisted  Father  to  make  the  removal.  He  was  as  tender  and 
careful  as  if  he  had  been  an  old  friend.  We  found  the  place 
exceediugly  comfortable,  and  much  more  cheerful  than  the  hotel. 
Father  was  confined  to  his  bed  for  weeks,  as  the  doctor  had  given 
orders  that  he  must  move  as  little  as  possible,  and  must  not 
attempt  to  write.  Day  after  day  passed  while  he  lay  there  very 
quietly,  bearing  his  long  confinement  with  infinite  patience  and 
cheerfulness. 

*•  Dr.  Garrod  visited  him  daily,  and  seemed  much  gratified  with 
his  continued  improvement.  He  told  me  he  had  never  seen  any 
one  with  greater  vitality,  and  added  that  Father  must  have  been 
endowed  with  a  wonderful  constitution.  After  some  weeks  he 
was  allowed  to  take  short  drives,  which  he  enjoyed  greatly.  His 
sanguine  temperament  made  him  feel  as  if  he  were  in  a  fair  way 
to  perfect  recovery,  and  he  began  to  talk  of  his  plans  for  the  Con- 
tinent. I  entreated  him  to  return  home,  and  begged  the  doctor 
to  order  that  he  should  return  to  America.  But  he  refused,  say- 
ing that  he  thought  we  had  best  go  to  some  quiet  place  for  the 
winter,  and  return  home  in  the  spring.  He  added  that  with  great 
care,  and  abstinence  from  mental  exertion  or  worry.  Father  ought 
to  live  at  least  a  year  longer." 


336  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

During  this  confinement  in  London,  with  a  frightful 
attack  of  dropsy  in  the  chest,  connected  with  his  gout  and 
kidney  troubles,  and  of  course  embarrassing  the  heart  and 
lungs.  Dr.  Boyce  was  visited  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Jones,  assist- 
ant-cashier of  the  Louisville  Banking  Company  (in  wdiich 
Dr.  Boyce  was  a  director),  and  by  Rev.  W.  E.  Hatcher, 
D.D.,  of  Eichmond,  Va.  Both  were  greatly  pained  to  find 
him  so  feeble  and  suffering,  and  with  so  little  prospect  of 
recovery,  but  reported  afterwards  that  he  was  patient  and 
cheerful,  sustained  by  submissive  trust  in  Providence. 
Hearing,  on  Mr.  Jones's  return,  of  this  prostrating  and 
alarming  illness,  and  thinking  of  his  wife  and  daughters 
alone  with  him  there  in  a  distant  land,  one  of  his  colleagues 
wrote,  and  urged  him,  if  he  should  grow  strong  enough, 
to  return  home,  in  order  to  be  within  reach  of  his  kindred 
and  friends  in  case  of  similar  attacks.  He  replied  as  soon 
as  able  to  write,  and  explained  his  plan.  He  felt  unable 
to  stand  a  return  voyage  at  that  time,  but  hoped  that  by 
spending  a  winter  in  the  south  of  Europe  in  the  quietest 
way,  he  might  escape  gout  and  rheumatism,  and  be  able  to 
return  in  the  spring.  His  only  remaining  earthly  concern 
was  to  settle  up  finally  his  father's  estate,  which  could  be 
done  after  the  following  January,  when  the  youngest  grand- 
sou  would  be  of  age.  He  added  that  there  must  be  no 
illusions  about  the  fact  that  he  could  never  hope  to  teach 
again  in  the  Seminary;  and  if  he  should  come  back  at  all, 
he  would  resign  at  the  end  of  the  session.  He  said  that 
the  professors  ought  to  be  considering  whom  they  would  be 
prepared  to  recommend  as  Professor  of  Theology,  in  case 
of  his  death  or  resignation.  A  letter  was  at  once  sent, 
asking,  in  behalf  of  the  professors,  whom  he  would  himself 
suggest;  and  he  answered,  from  Paris,  that  he  had  no  dis- 
position whatever  to  dictate,  or  to  volunteer  suggestions, 
on  that  subject,  but  that  if  the  Trustees  should  ever  care 
to  know  his  opinion  about  the  matter,  it  was  that  the  best 
appointment  would  be  that  of  Dr.  Kerfoot. 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND  DEATH.  337 

His  last  days  in  London  were  saddened  by  another  case 
of  profound  family  affliction,  the  death  of  his  admirable 
sister,  Mrs.  Dr.  H.  A.  Tupper,  of  E-ichmond,  Va. 

To  Mrs.  Burckmyer,  from  London,  Oct.  19,  1888. 

Allen  telegraphed  me  the  news  of  Nannie's  death.  The  bare 
fact  is  all  I  know  as  yet,  and  I  feel  anxious  to  hear.  I  suppose 
there  are  letters  on  the  way  which  will  tell  all  about  it.  What  I 
already  know  is  enough  in  one  sense.  When  the  despatch  came, 
I  was  just  stunned.  I  sat  and  looked  at  it,  and  wondered  that  a 
little  piece  of  paper  could  so  utterly  crush  one  by  a  few  words. 
It  was  so  unexpected!  When  the  news  of  Sister's  [Mrs.  Lane's] 
death  came,  I  was  partly  prepared  for  it;  but  this  news  was  like 
thunder  at  noonday  from  a  cloudless  sky.  I  saw  then  how  it  was 
that  my  poor  dear  wife  felt  so  dreadfully  the  death  of  her  sister 
Sally,  whom  she  had  not  thought  of  except  as  of  one  in  perfect 
health.  .  .  .  My  last  letter  from  Richmond  came  from  Naimie 
herself. 

We  have  been  greatly  blessed  by  the  preservation  of  the  lives 
of  so  many  of  us  to  a  good  old  age.  But  the  circle,  once  broken, 
has  again  been  broken  in  a  very  short  time.  Two  deaths  in  three 
months  !  How  soon  may  we  not  look  for  others  !  And  Ave  owe 
gratitude  not  only  for  life  continued,  but  for  continued  affection 
and  love  among  us  all.  A  happier  family  in  this  respect  it  would 
be  very  hard  to  find.  May  we  only  be  brought  more  closely 
together  as  we  are  diminished  iu  numbers  ! 

To  Miss  Amanda  B.  Lane,  from  London,  Oct.  22,  1888. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  family  so  long  preserved  together  loses 
two  of  its  most  valued  members  within  three  short  months,  nor 
do  I  know  a  family  anywhere  out  of  which  two  such  women 
could  have  been  taken.  I  write  this  soberly,  feeling  that  none 
who  knew  them  will  doubt  its  truth.  Not  even  in  our  eyes,  mucli 
less  in  their  own,  were  they  perfect ;  but  I  think  even  their  faults 
were  but  the  outcropping  fungus  of  their  virtues.  They  differed 
very  much,  yet  was  each  a  type  of  excellence.  Dear  to  me  as 
will  always  be  the  homes  and  families  they  have  left,  on  account 
of  those  now  in  them,  they  will  be  rendered  still  more  so  by  the 
memory  of  these  two  dear  sisters,  with  A^hose  love  God  has 
blessed  me  for  more  than  half  a  century  of  intnnate  fellowship. 

22 


338  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

Dr.  'Boyce  and  his  family  left  London  for  Paris  at  the 
end  of  October,  designing  to  spend  a  month  there,  and 
then  seek  some  pleasant  seaside  resort  for  the  winter. 
He  had  procured  a  light  wicker  rolling-chair,  so  that  he 
might  be  carried  about  without  walking,  which  the  doctor 
was  anxious  to  prevent.  During  the  two  last  weeks  in 
London  he  had  driven  out  every  day,  and  gained  strength 
rapidly.  Again  he  was  hopeful  of  recovery.  He  greatly 
enjoyed  the  ride  from  London  to  Dover,  delighting  in 
the  beautiful  scenery.  His  daughters  remember  how  he 
would  call  their  attention  to  the  fields  and  hedgerows, 
the  simple  cottages  here  and  there,  or  some  novel  sight 
that  would  arrest  his  attention.  The  day  was  sunny  and 
the  Channel  smooth,  so  that  they  crossed  most  comfort- 
ably. He  was  much  fatigued  by  the  time  the^  arrived 
in  Paris,  at  twilight,  but  brightened  up  as  they  drove 
through  the  brilliantl}^  lighted  streets.  Their  Paris  abode 
was  at  the  Hotel  des  Deux  Mondes.  For  several  days 
he  came  down  regularly  to  his  meals,  and  delighted  to 
drive,  and  sometimes  walk  a  little  w^ay,  with  the  family, 
in  the  mild  and  pleasant  weather. 

Soon  after  reaching  Paris  he  received  a  letter  that  gave 
him  great  pleasure.  Mrs.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  of  Louis- 
ville, daughter  of  Hon.  James  Guthrie,  and  widow  of  the 
celebrated  scientist,  had  in  the  middle  of  October  privately 
expressed  to  the  acting  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  her  inten- 
tion of  giving  to  the  Seminary  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
the  erection  of  a  Library  building,  as  a  Memorial  of  her 
departed  nieces  and  nephews,  Sarah  Julia  Caperton  and 
Mary  Caperton,  William  Beverley  Caldwell,  Jr.,  and 
Lawrence  Smith  Caldwell.  To  the  spontaneous  and  con- 
fidential intimation  of  this  purpose  she  added,  ''But  you 
may  write  to  Dr.  Boyce  about  it.  He  is  sick  and  suffer- 
ing abroad,  and  it  may  give  him  pleasure  to  know  that 
the  work  of  his  life  is  making  some  progress. '^  A  letter 
to  that  effect  was  of  course  gladly  written  at  once,  and 
this  was  his  answer:  — 


DECLINING  YEAKS  AND  DEATH.  339 

To  John  A.  BroaduSyfrom  Paris,  Oct.  31,  1888. 

I  received  last  night  yours  of  October  17.  I  think  we  have 
both  of  us  more  to  learn  of  the  duty  of  faith  and  confidence  in  the 
working  of  God  for  our  Seniiuary.  With  all  our  anxiety  and 
hopes  and  fears,  how  true  it  is  that  iu  our  agony  of  trouble  as  to 
what  will  occur,  we  find  that  God  has  found  us  ways  of  which  we 
have  never  dreamed !  Witness  the  gift  of  Governor  Brown. 
We  were  praying  for  help,  and  crying  out  in  our  despair;  and 
almost  without  our  lifting  a  finger,  it  came  from  a  quarter  to 
which  we  had  never  looked  for  such  a  sum.  So,  also,  your  letter 
of  to-day  tells  me  of  a  generosity  not  exceeding  what  might  have 
been  expected  for  worthy  objects  from  the  generous  donor;  but 
we  have  already  had  so  much  from  that  source  that  we  had  no 
right  to  expect  more,  —  so  much  so  that  I  have  felt  almost 
ashamed  of  having  asked  and  received  the  five  thousand  dollars 
last  giveo  ;  and  certainly  the  help  now  proposed  was  beyond 
all  possible  conception,  except  by  the  generous  heart  which  pro- 
poses it.  .  .  .  Please  express  to  your  friend  my  most  hearty 
thanks,  both  personally  and  officially,  for  this  contemplated  gift. 
I  know  not  what  words  to  use ;  none  could  express  too  strongly 
my  gratitude  and  thanks.  May  God  reward  her,  for  He  alone 
can  do  so  worthily  of  her  generosity  and  noble  purposes !  ^ 

He  proceeds  to  speak,  in  the  same  letter,  of  arrange- 
ments he  was  about  to  make  for  transferring  his  own  noble 
theological  library  at  once  to  the  Seminary.  In  Ma.y, 
1887,  he  had  indicated  to  the  Trustees  his  purpose  of 
doing  this,  —  a  purpose  long  known  to  his  older  col- 
leagues,—  but  on  the  condition  that  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  should  be  raised  as  a  special  endowment  for  the 
Library  of  the  Seminary.  In  this  letter  he  makes  no 
condition,    but    says    he    has    expressed    to   his   wife   and 

1  The  Memorial  Library  building  was  opened  in  May,  1890.  It  was 
carefully  planned  according  to  the  best  recent  ideas  and  examples,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  convenient,  and  every  way  satisfactory 
library  buildings  in  existence.  Its  "book-room"  will  hold  sixty 
thousand  volumes,  and  can  be  easily  enlarged  to  more  than  double 
that  space  when  necessary  hereafter. 


340  MEMOIR.  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

daughters  his  wish  that  all  the  theological  books  in  his 
collection  should,  in  case  of  his  death,  be  transferred  to 
the  Seminary  Library.  These  books  had  been  chosen 
with  constant  care  since  his  early  life,  and  were  regarded 
by  him  Avith  the  greatest  affection.  As  the  institution 
had  always  been  limited  to  a  small  annual  sum  for  the 
purchase  of  books,  he  had  taken  pains  not  to  procure  the 
same  work  —  with  some  necessary  exceptions — for  his  own 
library  and  that  of  the  Seminary.  Thus  his  noble  collec- 
tion came  into  the  library  as  exactly  complementary.^ 

On  November  3  Dr.  Boyce  wrote  from  Paris  to  his  col- 
league, Dr.  F.  H.  Kerfoot,  about  various  practical  matters 
connected  with  his  residence  and  the  Seminary,  and  then 
added  as  follows  :  — 

"■  Tlianks  for  your  prayers  and  kind  wishes  for  my  health.  I 
C(Mild  not  deny  my  willhigness  to  live  for  further  service,  but  I 
thhik  the  days  of  such  service  are  nearly  over,  and  that  there  is 
not  much  to  live  for  when  one  is  really  rusted  out.  The  Lord  knows 
better  how  long  to  use  me.  I  am  even  willing  He  should  keep 
me  useless,  but  I  am  thankful  to  believe  that  such  is  never  His 
will  as  to  any  of  His  servants.     He  often  uses  us  for  nothing  as 

1  It  is  proper  to  state  that  his  wishes  in  this  regard  were  of  course 
very  carefully  carried  out.  The  following  year  his  daughters  selected 
all  the  properly  theological  works,  to  the  number  of  some  five  thou- 
sand, and  took  great  pains  to  complete  the  collection  and  classifica- 
tion of  the  immense  mass  of  pamphlets  and  periodicals  which  he  had 
gathered  with  loving  care  through  life,  and  which  are  a  treasure  to  the 
Seminary  collection.  The  Seminary  Library  now  amounts  to  over 
twenty  thousand  volumes,  and  greatly  needs  a  special  permanent 
endowment,  as  Avell  as  particular  gifts  of  money  and  books.  Some 
persons  have  wondered  that  Dr.  Boyce's  noble  collection  was  not  kept 
separate.  Yet  his  older  colleagues  were  quite  sure  that  he  would  him- 
self have  chosen  to  have  his  books  distributed  throughout  the  library, 
according  to  subjects.  Separate  collections  may  be  a  pleasing  memorial, 
but  in  that  way  the  books  are  not  worth  half  so  much  for  actual  use. 
Dr.  Boyce  had  himself  distributed  the  books  received  from  the  libraries 
of  Professor  Bailey,  Dr.  Manly,  Sr.,  and  others. 


DECLINING  YEARS  AND   DEATH.  341 

well  as  for  something.  I  wish  only  to  be  His  aud  to  serve  Him, 
He  helping  me  to  do  so  iu  humility  and  faith.  God  be  with  you 
aud  yours ! " 

We  now  extract  again  from  Miss  Boyce's  narrative. 

"  We  had  not  been  iu  Paris  more  than  a  week,  before  Father 
began  to  show  signs  of  a  return  of  his  malady.  The  Paris  physi- 
cian who  had  been  recommended  by  Dr.  Garrod  did  not,  I  think, 
understand  the  case.  He  was  much  alarmed  at  Father's  condition, 
and  gave  inedicine  that  was  powerful  and  dangerous,  —  as  after- 
wards explained  to  us  by  others,  —  aud  without  benefiting  his 
patient  in  the  least.  Each  day  Father  lost  strength.  At  first  he 
did  not  seem  discouraged  at  his  relapse,  and  thought  he  had 
exhausted  himself  by  too  much  exercise.  But  when  after  a  few 
day^of  rest  he  failed  to  grow  stronger,  I  think  he  began  to  see 
that  no  care  on  his  part  could  strengthen  the  enfeebled  heart,  and 
that  he  could  not  live  many  more  months.  Still,  he  was  as 
patient  and  bright  as  possible.  He  would  always  be  much  dis- 
tressed if  we  showed  any  reluctance  to  leave  him,  telling  us  that 
he  was  only  contented  when  he  knew  that  we  were  seeing  all  we 
could  of  Paris.  The  windows  of  his  bedroom  looked  out  upon 
the  Avenue  de  I'Opera,  and  during  the  first  days  of  his  sickness, 
when  he  was  able  to  sit  up  in  his  chair,  he  would  sit  at  the  win 
dow  and  w^ave  his  hand  and  smile  to  us  as  we  passed  across  the 
avenue  below  in  going  and  returning.  But  after  a  few  days  he 
had  no  longer  the  strength  to  do  this,  but  had  to  recline  on  a 
couch  drawn  before  the  fire;  for  the  weather  had  become  cold,  it 
being  now  December.  He  was  much  troubled  at  this  time  with 
insomnia;  his  nights  were  turned  into  days,  thougii  fortunately  he 
slept  much  during  the  day.  He  read  during  these  weeks  in  Paris 
a  great  number  of  French  books.  We  had  two  tickets  at  the 
Circulating  Library,  in  order  that  he  might  have  plenty  to  read. 
But  afterwards  there  came  days  when  no  book  would  interest  him, 
and  no  conversation  could  entertain  beyond  a  few  minutes.  He 
was  feeble,  and  ofi"  aud  on  during  the  day  would  be  drowsy. 

"  After  a  while  he  began  to  dislike  the  physician,  and  refused  to 
take  his  medicine.  We  were  overcome  with  fright,  and  anxiously 
urged  him  to  try  further  treatment.  I  asked  the  doctor  how  much 
longer  he  thought  he  would  live  if  he  remained  in  Paris,  and  being 


342  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  F.   BOYCE. 

told  a  week  or  ten  days,  we  detennined  on  a  de^^perate  effort  to 
get  out  of  the  city,  though  privately  warned  by  the  doctor  that  he 
might  die  on  the  road. 

"  Dr.  Garrod  had  recommended  that  he  should  go  to  Pau,  in  the 
south  of  France,  and  we  found  it  possible  to  get  a  coupe  a  lit  from 
Paris  to  Pau  without  change  of  cars.  We  left  the  city  at  night, 
Father  being  taken  in  his  chair  to  a  carriage,  and  lifted  into  the 
train.  Our  night  was  fearful,  as  we  were  in  great  anguish  of  mind 
for  fear  he  might  die  at  any  moment.  He  seemed  much  exhausted, 
and  for  hours  before  we  got  to  Pau  he  was  asking  if  we  were  not 
nearly  there.  We  arrived  at  Pau  on  time,  but  there  was  much 
delay  in  securing  the  physician  whom  Dr.  Garrod  had  recom- 
mended. But  in  a  few  days  Father  began  to  improve.  This, 
however,  did  not  last  long,  and  we  soon  realized  that  the  end  was 
near.  Only  once  did  he  rally  sufficiently  to  talk  with  me  on  busi- 
ness, and  then  it  was  only  a  few  words.  He  was  out  of  his  head 
a  great  deal,  and  in  his  wanderings  his  talk  was  nearly  always  of 
the  Seminary.  We  would  constantly  catch  the  names  of  the  dif- 
ferent professors,  and  perhaps  the  last  words  we  distinctly  heard 
were  something  about  Seminary  and  students.  The  day  before 
he  died  he  was  conscious  for  several  hours,  but  could  not  talk,  as 
his  tongue  w^as  much  swollen.  He  recognized  us,  and  pressed 
our  hands  or  returned  our  kisses,  but  did  not  attempt  to  speak. 
An  English  clergyman,  whom  we  asked  to  visit  him,  saw  him  for 
a  few  moments  that  morning,  and  prayed  and  talked  with  him. 
Father  tried  to  say  a  good  deal  to  him,  but  it  was  impossible  to 
understand  what  he  was  saying.  He  soon  became  unconscious,  and 
remained  so  until  the  end.     This  was  on  Friday,  Dec.  28, 1888." 

The  news  of  Dr.  Boyce's  death  was  cabled  by  Miss 
Lizzie  Boj^ce  to  Louisville,  and  received  wdth  great  con- 
cern by  a  wide  circle  of  friends  in  the  cit}^,  and  especially 
at  the  Seminary.  An  informal  meeting  was  held  that 
afternoon  of  the  Faculty  and  students,  together  with  such 
Trustees  and  others  officially  connected  with  the  Seminary 
as  were  within  reach,  including  members  of  their  families 
and  some  friends.  Brief  and  loving  addresse's  were  made 
by  Professors  AVhitsitt  and  Kerfoot;  by  Drs.  Weaver, 
Warder,  Eaton,  Jeffries,  and  Hale;  and  by  Messrs.  George 


DECLINING   YEARS  AND   DEATH.  343 

W.  Norton,  Arthur  Peter,  and  Theodore  Harris.  Extracts 
from  some  of  these  utterances  will  be  given  in  the 
concluding  chapter. 

When  the  family  returned,  bringing  with  them  the 
mortal  remains  of  James  Petigru  Boyce,  to  rest  in  the 
Cave  Hill  Cemetery  at  Louisville,  funeral  services  were 
held  at  the  Broadway  Baptist  Church  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
January  20th. ^  There  were  many  visiting  brethren  from 
different  parts  of  the  country.  The  pall-bearers  included 
representatives  of  the  Conversation  Club  and  of  the  Con- 
federate Association.  Drs.  -Tichenor,  Burrows,  Weaver, 
J.  M.  Pendleton,  and  Kerfoot  took  part  in  the  worship. 
It  had  been  hoped  that  Dr.  Manly  would  make  the  open- 
ing address,  but  he  w^as  sick  with  pneumonia.  Addresses 
were  made  by  Dr.  Broadus,  by  Judge  Alexander  P.  Hum- 
phrey, of  Louisville,  and  by  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry. 

W^e  add  some  stanzas  of  a  hymn  prepared  for  the  occasion 
by  Professor  Marcus  B.  Allmond,  and  sung  in  opening 
the  service :  — 

"  Deal  gently,  Lord  !  For  Ave  are  weak ; 
The  archer,  Death,  has  smitten  low 
Our  Leader,  and  we  pray  Thee  speak 
And  cheer  us  in  this  hour  of  woe. 

"  Deal  gently.  Lord  !  Thy  mighty  ways 
Are  not  as  ours.    O  hlessed  name, 
Teach  us  in  sorrow  still  to  praise 

Thy  goodness,  and  Thy  love  proclaim ! 

"  Deal  gently,  Lord  !  Our  dead  shall  be 
New  cause  to  fill  our  hearts  with  love ; 
New  peace  and  joy  in  man  and  thee  ; 
New  hope  and  faith  in  heaven  above." 

At  the  ensuing  annual  meeting  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  in  Memphis,  a  Memorial  Service  was  held  on 

^  The  Florida  Baptist  Convention  was  in  session  at  the  time,  and 
through  telegraphic  communication  held  a  Memorial  meeting  at  the 
same  hour. 


344  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.  BOYCE. 

Sunday  afternoon,  May  12,  1889,  with  reference  to  Dr. 
Boyce,  who  had  for  several  previous  sessions  (and  for  seven 
in  all)  been  President  of  the  Convention.  Dr.  J.  L.  Burrows 
presided  over  the  memorial  meeting,  Dr.W.  E.  Hatcher  told 
of  his  visit  to  Dr.  Boyce  in  London,  and  addresses  were 
delivered  by  Dr.  H.  H.  Tucker,  who  was  James  Boyce's 
Sunday-school  teacher  in  Charleston  fifty  years  before,  by 
Dr.  J.  H.  Luther,  who  was  his  fellow-student  at  Brown 
University,  and  by  Dr.  E.  C.  Dargan,  representing  the 
Seminary  students  and  South  Carolina.^ 

1  Use  will  be  made,  in  one  way  or  another,  of  all  the  addresses  on 
these  funeral  and  memorial  occasions,  in  the  concluding  chapter,  and 
some  have  been  drawn  upon  heretofore.  Dr.  Tucker,  a  man  of  con- 
summate ability,  has  since  died.  Dr.  Dargan  is  now  a  highly  valued 
professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary. 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES   OF  CHARACTER.  34^ 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

GENERAL   ESTIMATES   OF   CHARACTER. 

JAMES  P.  BOYCE  was  in  character  thoroughly  genuine. 
The  better  you  knew  him,  in  all  relations  and  amid 

all  experiences,  the  more  plainly  you  saw  that  here  was 
a  man  made  of  good  timber  all  the  way  through. 

He  was  remarkable  for  good  judgment,  having  clearly 
inherited  this  high  quality  from  his  father.  His  faculties 
^vere  well  balanced,  and  acted  in  harmony.  Of  course  he 
was  sometimes  mistaken  as  to  men  or  measures,  but  very 
rarely.  This  sound  judgment,  exercised  to  an  extraor- 
dinary extent  from  early  life  upon  business  matters,  and 
accompanied  by  wide  and  varied  practical  knowledge,  con- 
stituted that  high  business  talent  which  was  known  to  all 
in  a  general  way,  and  most  fully  recognized  by  his  most 
eminent  business  associates.  Let  us  extract  from  two  of 
the  many  tributes  paid  after  his  death.  The  first  is  from 
the  stockholders  of  the  great  Cotton  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany at  Graniteville,  S.  C,  which  was  founded  by  his 
father,  and  of  which  he  was  a  Director  from  his  youth : 

''  A  minister  of  God's  holy  gospel,  called  especially  to  preside 
over  things  spiritual,  he  was  yet  a  safe  counsellor  and  guide  in 
things  temporal ;  and  to  his  clear  perceptions  of  business  trans- 
actions and  their  relations,  so  rare  in  one  of  his  calling,  this 
Company  is  indebted  for  some  of  its  most  fortunate  ventures  and 
investments.  ...  In  his  deatli  the  business  world,  and  especially 
the  Graniteville  Manufacturini?  Company,  with  which  he  was  so 
long  identified  as  a  leading  Director,  sustains  a  loss  almost,  if  not 
quite,  as  great  as  that  spiritual  world  in  which  he  shone  a  bright 
particular  star.  In  every  relation  of  life  he  was  true  and  loyal 
to  duty,  and  lived  his  life  nobly  and  well." 


346  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

In  the  first  meeting  held  at  the  Seminary  after  the  tele- 
graphic news  of  Dr.  Boyce's  death  arrived,  the  remarks  of 
Mr.  Theodore  Harris,  President  of  the  Louisville  Banking 
Company,  in  which  Boyce  had  for  years  been  a  Director, 
were  reported  as  follows :  — 

'^  Intimately  associated  with  Dr.  Boyce  in  business  relations, 
he  knew  him  as  a  gifted  man  in  business.  He  was  a  great  man  j 
the  most  perfectly  rounded  character  Mr.  Harris  had  ever  seen. 
On  one  occasion  Dr.  Boyce  presented  him  a  business  paper ',  and, 
deeply  impressed  with  the  great  wisdom  and  ability  of  the  paper, 
he  lost  sight  of  other  things,  and  asked  who  was  its  author.  As 
modestly  as  a  maiden,  Dr.  Boyce  confessed  the  authorship." 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  decided  opinions ; 
and,  as  a  kindred  quality,  a  man  of  strong  will  and  tenacity 
of  purpose.  This  also  was  hereditary,  and  developed  b}'' 
lifelong  exercise.  He  knew  why  he  thought  a  thing  was 
right,  and  knev/  why  he  was  determined  to  do  something. 
Yet  it  was  never  impossible  to  convince  him  if  he  was 
WTong,  — sometimes  quite  difficult,  but  never  impossible. 
There  was  no  pride  of  pertinacity,  no  reluctance  to  con- 
sider other  men's  views  and  weigh  their  arguments;  but 
he  w^as  decided  of  opinion  and  tenacious  of  purpose  because 
he  saw  good  reason  for  it,  and  as  long  as  he  saw  no  suffi- 
cient reason  to  the  contrary.  At  the  funeral  service  in 
the  Broadway  Church,  Judge  Alex.  P.  Humphrey,  whose 
father  had  been  an  eminent  Presbyterian  minister  and  Dr. 
Boyce's  friend,  alluded  to  the  fact  that  a  certain  class  of 
would-be  practical  people  look  upon  ministers  as  a  feeble 
folk,  wanting  in  vigor  and  virility,  and  said:  — 

*'  This  man  illustrated  at  once  the  manliness  and  the  devotion 
of  the  Christian  Minister  J  no  one  came  in  contact  with  him  with- 
out observing  at  once  the  force  of  his  personality,  the  strength  of 
mind,  the  sagacity  in  business,  the  far-seeing  wisdom ;  but  they 
found  it  all  the  time  and  always  dominated  by  the  one  single- 
minded  devotion  to  the  service  of  his  Maker.  ...   A  Calvinist 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES   OF  CHARACTER.  347 

must  necessarily  have  a  clear  mind  and  a  courageous  mind.  Dr. 
Boyce  had  convictions  that  were  sure,  and  a  speech  that  was  direct 
and  to  the  point.  He  helieved  that  before  the  foundations  of  the 
world  were  laid,  God  had  fixed  what  part  he  sliould  take  in  the 
great  drama  of  the  universe,  that  his  calling  and  election  were 
sure,  and  that  he  must  live  worthy  of  the  high  vocation  where- 
with he  was  called.  Viewed  in  such  an  aspect,  a  human  life 
ordained  to  the  honor  of  his  God,  set  in  the  orbit  that  was  accom- 
plished by  the  revolution  of  the  few  years  allotted  to  him,  appears 
to  my  mind  a  creation  sublimcr  than  a  star." 

On  the  same  occasion  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry  spoke  of 
Dr.  Boyce's  life  as  covering  ''the  most  eventful  period 
in  the  world's  history,"  and  said  that  the  questions  of  such 


''demanded  breadth  of  thought,  sagacious  and  comprehensive 
action,  and  Dr.  Boyce  was  abreast  of  the  times.  He  was  a 
student,  a  scholar,  a  teacher,  a  financier,  a  philanthropist,  and 
a  parliamentarian  ;  in  all  these  and  other  branches  he  was  not 
simply  mediocre,  but  he  was  remarkable  and  distinguished,  —  pot  a 
folk>wer,  not  a  mere  floater  on  the  surface  and  current  of  thought 
and  affairs,  but  a  leader,  a  seer,  a  thinker,  a  born  ruler.  ...  In 
intellect  Dr.  Boyce  measured  up  with  his  compeers ;  self-reliant, 
courageous,  broad  in  his  convictions  and  in  his  teachings,  he  was 
the  willing  servant  of  a  quick  conscience,  purified  and  elevated 
by  love  of  God.  He  was  no  trimmer,  no  coward.  Tolerant  of 
difference,  broadly  catholic  in  his  views,  he  nevertheless  asserted 
and  acted  upon  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  the  light  of  the 
New  Testament." 

Shortly  afterwards  a  glowing  tribute  was  paid  to  Dr. 
Boyce  by  Rabbi  A.  Moses  (a  member  of  the  Conversation 
Club),  in  the  Jewish  Temple  on  Broadway,  and  we  extract 
from  the  newspaper  report :  — 

"  This  deep  humanity  and  sympathy  made  Dr.  Boyce,  as  nearly 
as  a  mortal  man  can  be,  an  absolutely  just  man.  .  .  .  He  was 
a  perfect  gentleman  in  the  highest,  broadest  sense  ;  the  ideal  of 
chivalry.    He  could  not  have  been  rude  to  any  one,  even  if  he  had 


348  MEMOIIl  OF  JAMES   V.   BOYCE. 

tried,  for  his  ever-wakeful  sympathy  wouhl  not  permit  him  to  in- 
flict pain.  .  .  .  Had  he  turned  his  attention  to  politics,  what  a 
Senator  he  would  have  made !  What  a  President !  If  he  had 
been  thrown  among  savages,  he  could  have  tamed  and  civilized 
them,  for  he  was  a  born  leader  of  men.  So  much  gentleness  and 
kindness,  mingled  with  a  determined  and  unconquerable  will,  — 
his  character  was  builded  on  a  solid  rock,  while  beneath  it  welled 
a  fountain  of  living  water.  He  was  a  God-fearing,  a  God-seeking, 
and  a  God-loving  man.  Before  I  came  to  Louisville,  I  knew 
Christianity  only  in  books,  and  it  was  through  such  men  as  Boyce 
that  I  learned  to  know  it  as  a  living  force.  In  that  man  I  learned 
not  only  to  comprehend,  but  to  respect  and  reverence  the  spiritual 
power  called  Christianity.  .  .  .  God  grant  that  Christianity  may 
long  continue  to  produce  such  men ;  for  men  like  Dr.  Boyce  ring 
heart  to  heart,  and  draw  us  all  towards  that  goal  of  which  we  have 
only  glimpses,  —  that  iSj  God;  and  the  Kingdom  of  Ilighteousness 
forever." 

The  systematic  arrangements  and  habits  of  a  business 
man  were  carried  by  Dr.  Boyce  into  all  his  affairs,  and 
into  the  conduct  of  his  daily  life.  The  letters  received 
were  carefully  labelled,  with  date  of  reception  and  date  of 
answer,  and  laid  away  in  dated  packages.  The  letters 
w^ritten,  in  all  his  last  years,  were  copied  in  letter-books. 
Many  of  the  newspapers  he  took  were  carefully  preserved 
and  put  away  year  after  year,  and  the  more  important  ones 
annually  bound.  The  pamphlets  were  distributed  into  a 
great  number  of  paper  boxes,  marked  with  the  subject,  and 
often  with  the  year.  These  and  the  bound  newspapers  are 
now  a  treasure  to  the  Seminary's  library.  He  once  said 
before  a  Historical  Society  that  any  man  who  w^ould  destroy 
a  pamphlet  ought  to  be  hung.  That  his  many  thousands 
of  books  should  be  systematically  arranged  according  to 
subjects  and  sizes,  was  a  matter  of  course.  His  wife  and 
daughters  heartily  sympathized  with  this  love  for  the 
books,  and  after  their  removal  to  the  large  house  on  First 
and  Chestnut,  the  great  Library  was  a  delightful  place  to 
enter. 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER.  349 

Along  with  this  love  of  system  was  a  remarkable  punc- 
tuality. Some  of  his  associates  learned  to  bestir  them- 
selves, from  observing  that  lack  of  punctuality  caused  him 
real  pain.  We  may  here  extract,  as  in  a  former  chapter, 
from  some  notes  which  Miss  Boyce  kindly  consented  to 
furnish :  — 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  punctuality  was  a  special  character- 
istic of  my  father  iu  his  youth,  but  every  one  who  knew  him  in 
later  years  knew  that  he  was  most  particular  in  this  regard.  In 
his  anxiety  to  be  always  on  time,  he  would  start  say  fifteen  miu- 
utes  earlier  thau  necessary  for  a  city  engagement,  to  allow  for  any 
interruption  or  other  detention  on  the  way  ;  and  he  never  failed  to 
be  at  an  appointment  some  minutes  before  the  time,  watch  in 
hand,  ready  to  pounce  upon  the  tardy  comer.  This  was  the  only 
drawback  to  our  pleasure  when  travelling  with  Father.  He  would 
often  have  us  at  the  station  an  hour  or  more  before  the  time  for 
the  train  to  start,  until  we  would  be  exhausted.  I  think  he  felt 
a  keen  enjoyment,  when  meeting  his  classes,  to  see  the  tardy  ones 
among  the  students  come  slipping  in  after  the  hour,  with  dismay 
expressed  on  their  faces.  He  loved  to  tease  them  by  pretend- 
ing to  be  quite  angry,  and  would  then  tell  us,  on  coming  home, 
how  sheepish  they  looked,  and  how  they  would  apologize  after 
class." 

He  was  a  strong  and  deep  thinker.  Very  rarelj^  do  you 
find  a  man  so  widely  acquainted  and  actively  occupied  with 
practical  aifairs,  yet  so  delighting  in  the  profoundest 
thought.  He  really  loved  to  follow  out  a  close-linked  and 
vigorous  line  of  argument.  He  took  pleasure  for  its  own 
sake  in  the  elaborate  analysis,  exposition,  and  vindication 
of  some  great  theological  theme.  In  our  hurriedly  prac- 
tical age  many  talented  men  imagine  that  they  have  no 
time  for  calm  and  prolonged  thought;  yet  not  only  min- 
isters, but  lawyers  and  business-men  and  teachers,  might 
well  observe  the  examples  in  which  the  reflective  and  the 
active  powers  of  a  strong  man  reinforce  each  other. 

Unlike  some  deep  thinkers,  Dr.  l>oyce  was  remarkable 


350  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

for  wide  general  knowledge.  We  have  repeatedly  had 
occasion  to  notice  bis  extensive  and  thorough  acquaintance 
with  practical  affairs,  due  to  original  talent  and  early  train- 
ing, and  to  the  necessity  of  supervising  through  life  the 
varied  investments  of  his  father's  estate.  It  was  curious 
to  see  how  much  he  knew  about  merchandizing,  how 
thoroughly  at  home  he  was  in  banking,  how  familiar  with 
the  management  of  a  great  railway  line,  how  keenly  atten- 
tive while  at  Greenville  to  the  details  of  farming.  He 
knew  also  the  national  and  State  legislation  connected 
with  these  and  other  departments  of  business.  The  love 
of  wide  reading  which  he  had  shown  in  boyhood  was 
cherished  through  life.  He  had  a  good  general  knowl- 
edge of  history,  and  was  quite  at  home  in  the  history  of 
American  politics,  and  several  other  departments.  He 
was  exceedingly^  fond  of  poetry.  One  summer  he  read 
Wordsworth  solidly  through,  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  ''Ex- 
cursion," in  which  many  readers  fall  by  the  way.  The  new- 
est English  and  American  poets  he  promptly  read,  and  in 
many  cases  knew  their  works  intimately.  He  had  also  a 
wide  acquaintance  with  prose  fiction,  both  the  great  Eng- 
lish novelists  of  earlier  and  la.ter  times,  and  the  great 
French  novelists,  —  always  read  by  preference  in  the  orig- 
inal. He  was  an  adept  in  reading  newspapers  and  other 
periodicals,  —  which  is  one  of  the  chief  arts  of  modern 
intellectual  life.  Reading  aloud  to  anj^  sympathetic  lis- 
teners was  with  him  a  favorite  pastime,  while  his  wealth 
of  varied  feeling  and  rich  tones  of  voice  made  it  very 
pleasant  for  the  listeners.     Miss  Boj^ce  says :  — 

''Poetry,  romances,  books  of  travel,  comic  sketches,  — every- 
thing he  entered  into  with  keen  enjoyment.  One  of  my  earliest 
recollections  of  Father  is  of  his  reading  to  us  the  '  Pickwick 
Papers,'  and  his  fruitless  efforts  to  control  his  laughter.  Tears 
would  roll  down  his  cheeks,  and  his  voice  would  fail  him,  as  he 
strove  to  take  us  through  the  trials  and  scrapes  of  Mr.  Pickwick. 
He  always  read  with  easy  rapidity  and  varying  expression.     His 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES   OF  CHARACTER.  3ol 

voice  was  pleasiug,  and  under  good  control.  He  could  read  for 
hours  without  any  apparent  fatigue.  I  think  he  was  fonder  of 
poetry  than  prose.  Mrs.  Browning  was  a  special  favorite; 
Cliristina  Kossetti's  poetry  and  her  brother's  were  also  very  dear 
to  him.  He  was  quite  successful  in  readiug  negro  dialect.  A 
man  of  more  extensive  reading  it  would  be  hard  to  fiud.  At  one 
time  he  subscribed  for  nearly  twenty  religious  papers,  besides 
several  secular  ones,  and  half-a-dozen  current  magaziues.  At 
home  he  often  had  very  little  time  to  spend  in  reading,  but  he  read 
a  great  deal  when  travelliug.  While  soliciting  funds  for  the  Semi- 
nary before  it  was  established  in  Kentucky,  his  travelliug-bag 
would  be  packed,  not  only  with  books  of  general  readiug,  but  with 
text-books  and  writing  materials,  and  he  would  often  prepare  a 
lecture  on  the  train.  It  troubled  him  no  little  that  these  constant 
trips  took  him  so  much  from  home,  and  that  his  literary  work 
had  to  be  pursued  in  such  a  desultory  way.  He  was  a  great 
reader  of  French  literature,  and  neglected  no  opportunity  to  im- 
prove himself  in  readiug  and  speaking  the  language.  He  took 
French  lessons  with  his  family  a  few  years  before  goiug  abroad,  and 
also  German.  He  enjoyed  these  lessons  exceediugly,  was  highly 
amused  at  the  mistakes  of  the  others,  and  in  his  turn  received 
with  great  amiability  their  jokes  and  laughter  at  his  own  mistakes. 
I  think  this  was  a  very  noteworthy  thing  in  Father's  character,  — 
his  i^erfect  friendliness  with  his  children,  and  the  camaraderie  of  his 
intercourse  with  them.  Our  French  teacher  was  sometimes  quite 
overwhelmed  by  our  jokes  at  his  expense,  and  would  inform  us 
that  French  demoiselles  would  never  think  of  being  so  disrespect- 
ful. But  Father  only  laughed,  and  said  that  he  quite  understood 
us,  and  did  not  mind  it  in  the  least." 

Let  us  add,  from  the  same  source,  as  to  his  general  love 
of  books :  — 

''  His  library  was  a  source  of  great  pride  and  enjoyment.  At 
one  time  it  bade  fair  to  be  a  remarkably  large  collectit)n,  for  a 
private  individual.  Most  of  his  books  were  bought  before  the 
war  :  in  after  years  he  could  buy  little  beyond  those  necessary  for 
his  studies,  and  could  seldom  afford  to  indulge  any  longer  in  lovely 
bindings  and  rare  editions.  I  consider  this  one  of  the  greatest  trials 
that  loss  of  fortune  brought  upon  him.     He  still  indulged  him- 


352  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

self  occasi(nially,  but  then  only  for  our  benefit.  At  New  Year  he 
always  presented  each  member  of  the  family  with  either  the  com- 
plete edition  of  some  author's  works,  or  single  works  vA-ell  bound  and 
illustrated.  I  have  seen  him  sit  for  hours  with  a  book  catalogue 
in  his  hand,  marking  the  books  he  would  like  to  buy,  and  really 
seeming  to  get  great  enjoyment  out  of  merely  seeing  what  was  to  be 
had  if  he  could  afford  it.  He  was  charmed  to  show  his  books  to 
friends.  He  and  Colonel  Durrett  ^  were  constantly  in  each  other's 
libraries,  and  often  exchanged  books.  I  have  heard  him  say  that 
it  caused  him  positive  pain  to  see  beautifully  bound  or  illustrated 
books,  and  not  be  able  to  possess  them.  He  seldom  went  down 
town  without  going  to  a  book-store  where  he  could  indulge  him- 
self in  glancing  over  the  new  works.  He  bought  his  theological 
books  with  a  view  to  giving  this  part  of  his  collection  to  the 
Seminary.  He  was  devoted  to  children's  books,  would  read  them 
with  interest,  and  was  greatly  given  to  making  presents  of  them 
to  his  little  namesakes  and  other  child  friends.  The  last  gift  he 
gave  was  a  book  bought  at  Pan,  and  sent  to  a  little  grand-niece. 
He  gave  his  oldest  daughter  when  a  child  the  prettiest  and  the 
best  books  suitable  to  her  age.  In  fact,  she  was  really  possessed 
of  quite  a  little  library  when  only  a  baby.  The  Nightcap  Stories, 
Rollo  Books,  Grimm's  Fairy  Tales,  the  Arabian  Nights,  and  even 
some  French  books,  were  provided  for  her  long  before  she  had 
learned  the  alphabet.  He  took  great  pains  to  have  only  good 
illustrations  in  a  book  he  purchased,  believing  in  this  way  he 
might  cultivate  the  taste  for  good  drav>4ng  and  painting." 

For  nothing  was  Dr.  Boyce  raore  remarkable  than  for 
taste,  in  all  the  high  senses  of  the  term.  His  face  would 
glow  with  delight  as  he  gazed  at  a  beautiful  flower  or 
tree,  or  surveyed  an  inspiring  landscape.  His  home  at 
Greenville  w^as  bright  with  a  rich  collection  of  flowers, 
common  and*  rare,  including  a  great  variety  of  choice 
roses,  and  the  spacious  lawn  was  finely  shaded  by  noble 
forest  trees.  All  around  Greenville,  extending  far  west- 
ward to  the  glorious   Blue   Ridge,   was   much   delightful 

1  Colonel  R.  T.  Durrett  is  the  foremost  citizen  of  Louisville  as  to 
liistorical  and  antiquarian  matters,  and  founder  of  the  Filsson  Club, 
and  has  a  noble  collection  of  books. 


GENEllAL  ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER.  353 

scenery.  These  things  he  left  with  a  keen  sense  of  loss; 
and  it  is  only  since  he  passed  away  that  the  electric  cars 
are  showing  us  how  many  a  fine  landscape  may  be  enjoyed 
within  reach  of  Louisville.     Miss  Boyce  says:  — 

''In  Greenville  flowers  are  easily  cultivated,  and  were  there- 
fore a  source  of  much  pleasure  to  persons  fond  of  cultivatiug  tlieni. 
Mother's  devotion  to  flowers  aniouuted  to  a  craze,  and  she  was 
ably  upheld  by  Father.  Many  winter  evenings  were  pleasantly 
spent  reading  the  catalogues,  and  long  and  earnest  were  the  dis- 
cussions indulged  in  as  to  what  they  should  order  for  the  spring 
planting.  These  flowers  were  called  by  their  botanical  names, 
which  sounded  very  learned  to  my  childish  ears;  and  much  it  as- 
tonished me  to  hear  the  tremendous  Latin  terms  with  which  even 
the  tiniest  flowers  were  named.  When  I  learned  many  of  these 
words  it  was  a  source  of  amusement  to  Father  and  Mother  to  liear 
me  use  them.  When  the  boxes  would  arrive  from  the  North, 
with  all  the  newest  plants  beautifully  packed  in  them,  we  all  had  a 
hoHday.  Father  would  put  his  books  away,  and  lay  aside  his  pen 
for  a  trowel,  and  would  follow  Mother  around  with  the  watering- 
pot,  glad  to  do  his  share  towards  the  planting.  Every  morning 
the  plants  would  be  visited  and  examined  with  interest  f(»r  the 
first  sign  of  leaf  or  flower.  Mother  had  a  collectioo  of  over  four 
hundred  pot  plants  when  she  left  Greenville  for  Kentucky.  This 
taste  for  flowers  awakened  a  renewed  interest  in  their  cultivation 
among  the  ladies  of  Greenville.  Quite  a  number  of  them  began 
a  pleasant  rivalry  as  to  who  should  have  the  greatest  variety  and 
the  newest  plants.  Mrs.  Beattie  and  Mother  would  compare  notes 
whenever  they  met,  and  a  visit  to  each  home  was  soon  adjourned 
from  the  parlor  to  the  garden.  Father's  greatest  ambition  was  to 
have  his  lawn  covered  with  blue-grass.  He  had  already  made 
several  visits  to  Kentucky,  and  brought  back  wonderful  accounts 
of  the  beauty  of  the  grass.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
money,  had  the  lawn  ploughed  and  enriched,  and  carefully  sown 
with  blue-grass  seed,  but  was  unsuccessful  in  obtaining  any  steady 
growth." 

This  recalls  a  slight  incident  that  gave  pleasure.  At 
Dr.  Boyce's  instance,  the  writer  had  a  carefully  cherished 


354  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

little  plot  of  blue-grass  at  his  home  on  Main  Street.  Once 
during  the  war  some  of  John  Morgan's  cavalry  encamped 
near  Greenville.  One  summer  morning  two  tall  and  hand- 
some young  Kentucky  officers  came  w^alking  gajdy  by,  with 
bright  regimentals  and  sabre,  and  one  of  them  suddenly 
started  and  said,  ''Hi,  Tom!     Blue-grass! '^ 

Among  works  of  art,  Boyce's  greatest  delight  was  prob- 
ably in  pictures.  He  kept  the  entree  to  every  private 
collection  in  Charleston,  and  delighted  in  taking  a  friend 
to  see  this  or  that  painting.  He  knew  where  anj^thing  of 
superior  excellence  was  to  be  found  in  the  public  collec- 
tions of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  At  the  Centennial 
Exposition  in  1876,  the  writer  remembers  to  have  gone 
round  the  picture-galleries  with  him  and  his  family,  and 
to  have  been  greatl}'-  impressed  by  the  unwearied  enthu- 
siasm with  which  he  and  his  wife  survej^ed  every  good 
picture,  as  well  as  the  promptness  with  which  they  sin- 
gled out  the  really  good  pictures  in  a  room.  It  was  one 
of  his  most  cherished  hopes,  as  to  the  long-deferred  visit 
to  Europe,  that  he  and  his  might  enjoj'-  the  world-famous 
paintings;  and  we  have  seen  that,  though  with  failing 
strength,  he  visited  collections  in  London  and  Paris,  and 
wrote  of  hearty  pleasure  in  beholding  them. 

As  to  music.  Miss  Boj^ce  remarks :  — 

''  He  always  took  every  opportunity  when  in  New  York  to 
attend  the  best  music,  in  Symphony  Concerts,  Oratorios,  etc. 
He  had  heard  most  of  the  great  singers  that  have  been  in  this 
country.  On  one  occasion  he  went  from  Greenville  to  Charleston 
for  the  purpose  of  hearing  Carlotta  Patti.  I  remember  his  telling 
many  times  of  the  exquisite  pleasure  he  had  in  hearing  Jenny 
Lind  sing  '  I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth.'  The  most  diffi- 
cult and  classical  coinpositions  were  as  much  enjoyed  by  him  as 
music  of  a  lighter  character.  He  spared  no  expense  in  the  selec- 
tion of  music-masters  for  his  children,  and  always  showed  delight 
in  their  progress,  often  laughing,  and  telling  them  that  they  had 
inherited  from  him  their  great   fondness   for   music.      This    he 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER.  355 

would  prove  sometimes  by  showing  them  a  small  tuning-fork 
wliicli,  when  a  boy,  he  received  as  a  prize  for  being  the  most 
promising  pupil  in  a  small  singing-class  in  Charleston.  He  had 
carefully  kept  the  prize,  and  would  insist  that  it  showed  some 
latent  talent  on  his  part,  which  ought  to  come  out  in  them." 

AVe  have  alluded  in  earlier  chapters  to  his  remarkable 
taste  in  regard  to  ladies'  dress.  On  this  point  the  daugh- 
ter says : — 

''  He  was  always  interested  in  pretty  dressing,  encouraged  us 
to  purchase  good  materials,  aud  never  objected  to  the  size  of  the 
bills  presented.  In  early  married  life  he  bought  nearly  every- 
thing worn  by  his  wafe.  On  the  trips  to  New  York  which  he 
made  two  or  three  times  a  year,  he  purchased  for  her  dresses  and 
bonnets,  laces  and  jewelry,  and  often  undertook  shopping  for  his 
sisters-in-law  and  other  lady  friends.^  He  always  showed  excel- 
lent taste,  was  of  course  extravagant,  —  being  a  man,  —  and  was 
quite  up  in  all  the  dressmakers'  technical  terms.  He  bought 
things  only  in  the  latest  fashions.  In  later  years  he  often  objected 
to  our  selections  of  goods,  usually  because  he  considered  the 
material  not  sufficiently  handsome,  and  would  tell  us  that  he 
could  buy  better  things.  This  was  no  doubt  true ;  but  our  bills 
would  then  have  assumed  pretty  proportions.  He  was  exceed- 
ingly fond  of  jewelry,  selecting  very  tasteful  and  appropriate 
presents.  He  would  have  given  Mother  many  a  costly  jewel, 
had  it  not  been  for  severe  injunctions  on  her  part  that  he  must 
not  buy  such  expensive  things." 

Mr.  William  G.  Whilden  says  that  soon  after  the  war, 
when  it  was  hard  to  tell  ^yhether  any  property  w^as 
left,  Bo3^ce  remarked  to  him,  ^'I  do  not  regret  the  loss 
of  my  means,  except  for  two  things.  I  like  to  have 
means  of  giving  freelj^,  and  I  like  to  see  my  wife  dress 
handsomely." 

He    took  a  similar   interest  in  all    the   furniture    and 

1  It  may  be  remembered  that  he  was  once  a  partner  in  a  great  dry- 
goods  house  in  New  York. 


356  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

furnishings  of  a  home,  down  to  the  least  details.  It  may 
be  remembered  that  when  first  setting  up  his  home  in 
Columbia,  his  fancy  was  to  have  the  entire  house  com- 
pletely furnished  when  his  young  wife  entered  it.  When 
he  took  a  house  in  Louisville,  the  family  were  absent; 
and  on  arriving  they  found  all  things  ready,  and  entirely 
suited  to  their  wants  and  their  taste. 

On  a  kindred  matter.  Miss  Boyce  relates :  — 

"He  gave  us  many  a  talk,  as  we  grew  up,  in  regard  to  our 
behavior.  He  was  most  fastidious  in  his  notions  about  the 
deportment  of  women.  He  thought  they  should  always  have 
themselves  under  perfect  control,  no  matter  how  awkward  the 
situation  or  how  amusing  the  circumstances.  If  it  was  not  the 
time  or  place  for  mirth,  a  lady  should  be  able  to  be  quietly  dig- 
nified. It  was  difficult  to  make  him  believe  that  ladies  could  do 
anything  out  of  the  way.  He  believed  all  they  said ;  and  although 
we  sometimes  tried  to  make  him  see  that  he  was  being  deceived, 
he  never  could  be  convinced.  He  was  always  deferential  to  any 
woman.  Even  a  young  girl  was  treated  with  marked  respect. 
His  own  daughters  received  many  a  courtesy  from  him  which, 
probably,  most  men  would  never  think  of  showing  their  home 
people." 

The  humor  and  wit  for  which  we  have  seen  that  John 
Boyce  and  his  son  Ker  were  remarkable,  descended  in 
unabated  inheritance  to  the  grandson.  He  w^ould  often 
tell  an  amusing  anecdote  with  contagious  hilarit}^,  and 
never  with  unkindness  towards  any  one.  In  some  moods 
his  jests  were  very  frequent  and  striking.  He  did  not 
share  the  modern  disposition  to  belittle  puns,  which  the 
great  ancient  peoples  used  so  freely,  and  which  by  a  sort 
of  affectation  are  expected  to  be  now  received  with  a  pre- 
tended rebuke.  When  introducing  speakers  at  a  banquet, 
and  elsewhere  whenever  he  felt  like  it,  he  would  play  upon 
men's  names  as  freely  as  is  so  common  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek.  A  former  student,  I.  P.  Trotter,  recalls  how  in 
the  class  of  Latin  Theology  one  day,  a  brother  who  was 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF   CHARACTER.  357 

called  on  to  translate  a  difficult  sentence  said,  '' Doctor, 
this  looks  right  blue  to  me."  "But  I  want  it  read,^^  was 
the  quick  reply;  and  one  can  see  how  such  a  slight 
pleasantry  would  greatly  relieve  the  situation.  If  we 
may  judge  from  freijuent  results,  men  inclined  to  witty 
speech  must  be  often  tempted  to  raise  a  laugh  by  irrev- 
erence, indecency,  or  sarcastic  severity.  Each  of  these  is 
a  very  cheap  thing.  Dr.  Boyce  was  entirely  free  from 
them  all.  In  all  respects  he  was  a  good  converser,  never 
engrossing  the  conversation,  but  listening  with  lively 
sympathy  and  ready  for  quick  response;  while  his  quiet 
good-humor  and  easy  dignity  would  be  diffused  over  all 
the  scene.  Like  his  father,  he  would  put  aside  business 
troubles  in  the  family  circle.  Once,  after  middle  age,  he 
mentioned  to  his  wife  a  yery  heavj^  financial  loss  through 
sudden  disaster  to  a  house  in  which  he  was  a  partner;  yet 
in  ten  minutes  he  was  reading  aloud  from  ''Pickwick," 
and  laughing  most  heartily. 

Akin  to  the  love  of  art  and  literature  was  a  fondness 
for  writing  occasional  verses,  to  accompany  gifts,  or  on  any 
special  occurrence.  He  called  them  doggerel,  but  took 
real  pleasure  in  making  such  rhymes,  and  was  glad  when 
people  liked  them.  He  would  frequently  translate  also 
from  little  French  poems,  turning  the  phrases  neatly,  and 
sometimes  with  marked  felicity. 

James  Boyce"  was  the  soul  of  honor,  and  felt  an  instinc- 
tive scorn  of  everything  base  and  mean.  Until  ill-health 
made  him  sometimes  irritable,  his  friends  never  saw  him 
manifest  great  impatience,  except  where  some  one  had 
seemed  ungentlemanly  in  speech  or  action;  that  he  could 
not  bear.  He  loved  truth,  and  delighted  in  candor,  and 
felt  pained  at  the  opposite  of  these  in  others.  Dr.  H.  A. 
Tupper  impressively  says :  — 

''  This  love  of  truth  was  not  only  one  of  the  chief  ornaments 
of  his  character,  but  the  best  qualification  for  a  professorship  of 


358  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES  P.  BOYCE. 

Theology.  ...  It  was  hard  for  him  to  understand  how  people 
could  do  mean  things  and  tell  lies.  His  first  impulse  was  to  go 
to  such  persons  and  show  them  that  they  had  done  wrong,  —  never 
imagining,  apparently,  that  they  well  knew  their  conduct  to  be 
ignoble,  and  their  lips  untrue.  He  was  not  unfrequently  checked 
in  such  a  purpose,  as  utterly  useless.  Hence  he  sometimes  did 
not  notice  things  which  VA-ere  infinitely  off"eusive  to  him,  and 
had  given  him  infinite  pain.  And  his  simple,  generous,  and 
magnanimous  character  sometimes  administered  the  needed  re- 
proof, and  converted  the  evil-doer  into  a  eulogist.  Little  as  it 
may  be  thought,  while  the  whole  country  rises  up  to  do  him 
honor,  he  had  good  reason  to  understand  what  Thomas  a  Kempis 
meant  in  these  words  :  '  It  is  good  for  us  sometimes  to  suffer 
contradiction,  and  to  be  badly  or  disparagingly  thought  of,  even 
when  we  do  and  mean  well.  These  things  often  aid  us  in 
forming  humility.' '' 

And  with  all  his  high  sense  of  honor,  his  dignity  and 
self-respect,  Dr.  Bojce  was  marked  by  true  humility  and 
modesty.  In  the  Memorial  Addresses  before  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  both  Dr.  Tucker  and  Dr.  Dargan  spoke 
of  his  meekness.  There  are  many  wdio  will  understand 
how  high  a  compliment  it  is  when  we  say  that  James  P. 
Boyce  was  a  South  Carolina  gentleman;  and  it  ought  to 
appear  something  still  more  exalted  and  complete  to  call 
him  a  Christian  gentleman. 

With  a  high-toned  self-respect  ought  alwaj^s  to  be  con- 
nected a  delicate  consideration  for  others.  This  was 
certainly  true  of  Dr.  Boyce,  and  Dr.  Tupper  says  was 
strikingly  true  of  his  mother.  He  delighted  to  recognize 
merit  in  others,  and  loved  to  give  credit  to  his  associates 
in  any  undertaking.  If  he  ever  seemed  extravagant  in 
speech,  it  was  when  praising  a  friend.  If  a  student  grew 
sensitive  or  restless  under  any  requirement  of  the  insti- 
tution, he  would  manage  with  delicate  sympathy  and  quiet 
steadiness  to  relieve  the  strain  of  the  situation.  For 
example,  John  Stout  tells  that  during  his  first  session  in 
the  Seminary,  1868-1869,  he  was  prevented  by  illness  from 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER.  359 

malviiig  special  preparation  for  the  examination  in  Syste- 
matic Theology,  and  went  to  the  room  simply  to  explain 
his  failure  to  undertake  it.  The  professor  urged  him  to 
stand  the  examination,  if  for  nothing  else,  for  the  sake  of 
good  discipline,  to  promote  the  conviction  that  the  exami- 
nations are  important.  That  idea  touched  the  soldierly 
element  in  the  quiet  student,  and  he  ^^sat  down  to  help 
keep  up  the  morale  of  the  institution."  When  he  presently 
brought  up  a  paper,  the  professor  again  urged  him,  with  a 
look  of  deep  personal  interest,  to  return  to  his  seat  and 
keep  on  writing.  He  did  so,  just  to  gratify  his  instruc- 
tor; and  when  they  met  that  evening  at  prayer-meeting. 
Dr.  Boyce  took  him  aside  and  said,  ''Your  paper  was 
better  than  3'ou  thought.  It  has  passed  you.  I  knew 
you  could  pass  if  you  would  try."     Mr.  Stout  adds: 

''  I  am  sure  he  saw  at  a  glance  that  morning  how  keenly  I  felt 
my  disappointment,  and  he  determined  to  save  me,  in  spite  of 
myself.  I  fancy  he  saw  just  where  to  touch  me  to  stir  my  dormant 
energy,  and  his  kindness  suggested  to  him  to  give  relief  at  the 
earliest  moment  that  evening  to  the  sensitive  fellow  who  was 
suifering  the  mortification  of  failure." 

E.  J.  Forrester  mentions  in  like  manner  some  specially 
kind  dealing  with  him.  In  the  years  following  the  war, 
when  few  people  in  Greenville  had  means  of  jDurchasiiig 
books.  Dr.  Boyce  had  lent  his  books  very  freely  to  students 
and  families,  until  the  losses  were  so  heavy,  especially  in 
breaking  up  sets,  that  he  was  compelled  to  make  a  rule 
against  lending.  In  the  first  session  at  Louisville,  Mr. 
Forrester  wanted  to  write  an  essay  in  Church  History  that 
required  examination  of  many  books,  and  asked  Dr.  Boyce 
to  lend  him  a  number  of  works.  He  told  him  of  the  neces- 
sary rule,  but  invited  him  just  to  come  into  his  library,  and 
work  there  as  long  as  he  pleased,  a.s  he  himself  would  be 
absent  from  the  city  for  several  days.  The  student  keenly 
felt  the  personal  kindness  and  personal  confidence.     He 


360  MEMOIR   OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

further  mentions  that  finding  himself  appointed  one  of  the 
speakers  at  the  Commencement,  he  tried  in  various  ways 
to  escape  from  the  task,  and  tells  with  what  prompt  firm- 
ness, mingled  with  good  humor  and  delicate  kindness,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Faculty  overruled  all  his  excuses,  and 
made  him  stand  up  to  the  rack.  H.  A.  Bagby  writes  that 
at  first  he  looked  upon  Dr.  Boyce  as  an  austere  and  exact- 
ing man,  and  was  greatly  frightened  when  asked  to  preach 
before  him  in  the  Broadway  Church,  which  the  professor 
attended,  sitting  there  with  a  face  that  seemed  to  the 
young  man  severe  and  critical.  But  at  the  close  he  called 
on  Dr.  Boyce  to  pray;  and  the  prayer  was  so  devotional  and 
tender,  so  thoroughly  sympathetic  with  what  he  had  been 
saying,  that  his  own  heart  went  out  at  once  in  warmest 
love  towards  the  man  he  had  so  dreaded.  Often  after- 
wards he  was  struck  with  the  sweetness  and  simplicity  of 
the  professor's  prayers.  It  is  related  that  some  student 
re-entered  the  Seminary  after  an  absence  of  several  years; 
and  upon  being  asked  by  a  friend  what  made  him  come 
back,  he  said,  ''  I  want  to  attend  Systematic  Theolog}^,  and 
hear  Dr.  Boyce  pray.'' 

At  the  same  time  Dr.  Boyce  was  by  no  means  wanting  in 
sternness,  where  that  seemed  necessary.  In  one  of  his  last 
years  of  teaching,  a  worthy  student,  who  was  making  quite 
a  poor  recitation  in  ^' Latin  Theology,"  at  length  chafed 
under  the  professor's  helpful  suggestions,  and  went  on 
without  adopting  them.  Dr.  Boyce  simply  became  silent, 
and  let  him  go  forward  till  he  wound  himself  up  in  a 
sentence,  and  could  not  go  at  all.  Then  another  student 
was  quietly  requested  to  translate;  and  the  former,  who 
was  really  an  excellent  man,  felt  it  so  keenly  that  he 
almost  fainted.  Upon  this  incident  a  student  remarks  in 
a  letter  that  Dr.  Boyce  could  be  patient  as  long  as  patience 
was  a  virtue,  and  as  soon  as  sternness  became  a  virtue  he 
could  be  stern.  Many  other  instances  might  be  given  of 
his  wise  and  kind  dealing  with  students. 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER.  oGl 

Several  ministers  and  others  have  testified  to  the  exceed- 
ing kindness  with  which  Dr.  Boyce  would  answer  letters 
of  inquiry  about  questions  of  doctrine  or  of  church  dis- 
cipline. He  alwdys  declined  to  discuss  a  question  which 
had  already  been  brought  before  a  church;  but  outside  of 
this  limit  he  was  willing  to  take  great  pains  in  setting 
forth  his  views  at  the  request  of  a  brother  who  had  dif- 
ficult questions  to  decide.  In  the  case  of  a  man  widely 
known,  such  correspondence  often  becomes  extremel}'  bur- 
densome. It  was  really  among  the  w^onders  of  our  age 
that  up  to  a  few  years  ago  Mr.  Gladstone  answered  every 
letter  that  was  addressed  to  him  upon  the  greatest  variety 
of  subjects,  political,  literary,  religious,  and  all  this  by 
writing  with  his  own  pen.  Dr.  Boyce  wrote  with  great 
facility;  but  it  makes  one  sigh  to  look  over  the  many 
long  letters  he  had  to  produce,  even  in  his  years  of  failing 
strength,  in  order  to  answer  the  inquiries  or  meet  the 
wishes  of  numberless  correspondents.  Many  men  in  like 
position  are  simply  unable  to  keep  up  such  a  vast  corre- 
spondence without  neglecting  nearer  and  more  pressing 
work. 

In  every  direction  Dr.  Boyce  showed  a  generous  and 
unselfish  nature.  Dr.  T.  H.  Pritchard,  who  was  for  some 
years  his  pastor  at  the  Broadway  Church  in  Louisville,  has 
declared  that  Boyce  was  the  most  unselfish  man  he  ever 
knew.  On  one  occasion  he  added,  ''except  the  sainted 
Wingate,"  who  was  Pritchard's  predecessor  as  President 
of  Wake  Forest  College.  A  gentleman  who  was  long 
Boyce's  business  partner  says :  — 

''  I  never  had  advice  from  him  which  could  be  construed  in  any 
manner  to  have  been  ijiven  from  interested  motives,  or  for  the 
furtherance  of  his  own  interest  to  the  detriment  of  mine.  .  .  .  His 
liberality  in  business  arrangements,  his  genial  kindness  of  nature, 
and  his  gentleness  of  manner  even  when  suffering  pecuniary  loss, 
was  unequalled  in  my  observation.  He  would  speak  mildly  even 
of  men  who  had  grossly  wronged  and  defrauded  him." 


362  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

His  considerateness  and  generosity,  and  his  noble  qual- 
ities in  general,  awakened  a  very  hearty  affection  on  the 
part  of  men  who  acted  in  the  capacity  of  private  secretary 
for  him.  Mr.  E.  N.  Woodruff,  his  secretarj^  for  six  years 
after  the  Seminary  came  to  Louisville,  says :  — 

"  He  was  careful  to  test  the  capacity  of  those  who  carae  into  his 
service.  He  withheld  much  from  me  at  first,  and  little  by  little 
would  intrust  me  with  more  extended  work.  When  work  was 
done  to  his  satisfaction,  he  never  failed  to  commend,  and  always 
with  great  delicacy." 

A  later  secretary,  Mr.  Almond,  cherishes  his  memory 
with  unutterable  devotion. 

It  is  widely  known  that  Dr.  Boyce  was  very  generous  in 
the  way  of  giving  money,  both  as  to  general  religious 
contributions  and  for  the  relief  of  individuals.  But  the 
extent  of  his  varied  beneficence  was  far  greater  than  any 
but  his  most  intimate  associates  could  imagine,  and  was 
fully  known  to  no  one  person.  Dr.  H.  A.  Tupper  tells 
us:  — 

''  One  who  well  knows  what  he  affirms  has  said  that  Dr.  Boyce 
gave  away  more  than  he  spent  on  himself  and  family,  and  that 
his  beneficence  would  be  represented,  in  a  material  way,  only  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  And  yet  this  was  the  smallest 
part  of  his  generosity.  The  freeness  and  fulness  with  which  he 
forgave  offences,  the  lovingness  with  which  he  cheered  persons 
who  were  in  distress  through  evil-doing,  and  the  wealth  of  tear- 
ful and  heartfelt  sympathy  with  which  he  comforted  the  afflicted, 
transcended  all  the  other  gifts.  When  he  conferred  ffivors,  he 
made  the  recipients  feel  that  he  himself  was  favored ;  and  while 
he  had  many  applications  for  help  to  which  he  delighted  in  re- 
sponding favorably,  it  was  his  peculiar  delight  to  anticipate  the 
necessity  of  application,  to  respond  to  heart-anxieties  as  yet  unex- 
pressed in  words  or  acts,  and  to  answer  for  the  Lord  prayers  only 
made  in  secret.  During  his  last  illness,  there  were  striking  illus- 
trations of  this  thoughful  charity,  but  too  sacred  for  the  page  of 
history.     Much  as  he  was  to  public  view,  he  was  vastly  more  in 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF  ClIAPxACTER.  363 

his  family,  among  intimate  friends,  and  under  the  eye  of  God, 
alone  with  the  subjects  of  his  Chrisllike  kindness." 

We  may  add  a  slight  incident  which  is  suggestive.  A 
little  boy,  ten  years  old,  who  bore  his  name,  had  received 
so  many  proofs  of  his  loving  remembrance  that  one  day, 
generalizing  as  children  will  do,  he  said  to  his  mother, 
''People  are  very  kind  to  their  namesakes/'  Maybe  it 
would  be  well  for  us  all  to  generalize  as  children  do,  and 
judge  human  nature  by  something  good  and  great,  rather 
than  to  judge  people  in  general  by  the  selfish  and  the 
wicked. 

Dr.  Richard  Fuller  once  said,  ''The  Lord  gave  Boyce 
such  a  big  heart  that  it  was  necessary  to  give  him  a  big 
body  to  hold  it."  Yet  to  all  that  we  have  said  it  ought  to 
be  added  that  he  took  the  greatest  pains  to  give  only  to 
deserving  objects,  thus  making  a  wise  investment  of  means 
which  he  held  as  a  steward  of  the  Lord.  As  far  back  as 
1859,  during  the  S.  B.  Convention  in  Eichmond,  when  he 
was  overwhelmingly  busy  with  efforts  to  get  the  Seminary 
afloat,  and  at  the  same  time  actively  participating  in  all 
the  work  of  the  Convention,  he  took  the  writer  aside  to 
inquire  about  the  young  Baptist  church  at  Staunton,  Ya., 
saying  that  j\[rs.  Linda  Peyton  had  asked  him  to  give  a 
hundred  dollars  for  the  church,  and  he  wanted  to  be  sure 
that  it  would  be  well  bestowed.  This  was  characteristic 
of  him  through  life;  and  even  those  of  us  who  can  give  but 
little  should  in  like  manner  be  very  careful  to  invest 
wisely  what  we  hold  in  the  Master's  service. 

One  other  matter  must  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  Dr.  Boyce's  kindness  and  generosity.  His  daughter 
says : — 

•'  My  father  was  always  exceedingly  kind  to  his  servants.  He 
never  failed  to  greet  them  pleasantly  when  returning  home  after 
an  absence.  His  manner  towards  them  was  always  considerate 
and  kindly.     On  some  of  his  visits  to  our  old  home  at  Greenville, 


3G4  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

the  negroes  who  had  been  his  former  shives  would  sometimes 
come  many  miles  to  see  him,  and  he  always  appreciated  this  very 
highly.  One  amusiug  incident  was  that  of  his  being  entertained 
at  dinner  in  Memphis  by  a  woman  who  had  formerly  been  his 
servant.  She  had  been  my  mother's  maid,  being  a  gift  from  her 
father  on  the  eve  of  her  marriage.  She  married  the  servant  of 
another  gentleman  in  Greenville,  who  had  trained  him  very  care- 
fully as  a  carpenter  and  house-builder.  When  the  master  died, 
Mother  was  unwilling  to  give  up  her  maid,  and  the  married 
couple  must  of  course  not  be  separated  ;  and  so  Father  paid  the 
very  liigh  price  of  3,500  dollars  for  the  husband,  whose  services 
he  did  not  at  all  need.  Then  he  bought  the  man  a  large  box  of 
very  expensive  tools,  and  let  him  take  contracts  for  work,  as  he 
was  intelligent  enough  to  manage  the  entire  building  of  a  house. 
At  the  end  of  the  war  this  man,  with  his  wife  and  children,  went 
to  Memphis,  and  Father  gave  him  the  tool-chest  as  a  parting 
present.  He  did  well  as  a  builder,  and  their  children  received 
a  good  education.  Once  when  Father  and  Dr.  Manly  were  in 
Memphis  attending  a  convention,  Fanny  came  and  invited  them 
to  dine  with  her.  They  accepted,  and  she  received  them  with 
pride  and  joy,  seated  them  at  a  well-laden  table,  and  waited  on 
them  herself.^' 

It  may  be  added  that  when  Dr.  Boyce's  death  was 
announced,  this  woman  telegraphed  to  know  the  time  of 
the  funeral,  and  came  to  Louisville  to  attend  it.  Mrs. 
Arthur  Peter,  of  Louisville,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Wise,  of  Cov- 
ington, have  each  stated  that  the  servants  in  their 
homes  alwaj^s  expressed  great  pleasure  whenever  it  was 
mentioned  that  Dr.  Boyce  was  coming  for  another  visit. 

A  man  such  as  we  have  thus  far  described  would  be 
likely  to  show  very  warm  affection  to  kindred  and  friends. 
This  has  already  appeared  to  some  extent  in  letters  to  his 
sisters  and  other  kindred.  But  these  deepest  and  dearest 
affections  are  never  fully  revealed  to  the  persons  most 
closely  connected,  and  become  but  slightly  manifest  to 
the  outside  world.  We  extract  again  from  Miss  Boyce's 
notes :  — 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF   CHARACTER.  365 

''He  was  an  ideal  fatlier,  in  whom  supreme  tenderness  was 
mingled  with  great  firmness,  who  sliowed  utter  self-sacrifice  and 
tireless  care  and  love  towards  his  children.     Even  when  we  were 
very  young,  and  could  hut  little  realize  how  much  he  studied  our 
every  desire  and  need,  there  were  a  thousand  proofs  of  how  his 
thoughts  were  centred  in  our  childish  interests.     In  the  selection 
of  girts  for  us  at  Christmas  he  took  the  keenest  pleasure,  never 
allowing  any  one  to  take  this  matter  ofi'  his  hands.     He  always 
showed  a  remarkahle  faculty  in  the  choice  of  heautiful  and  unique 
presents.     Every  doll,  every  game  or  book,  was  selected  for  us 
by  him,  and  him  alone.     It  seems  to  me  a  remarkable  fact  that 
amidst  all  his  duties  these  little  things,  about  which  he  need  never 
have  troubled  himself,  were  claimed  as  his  special  pleasure.     He 
entered  into  the  joys  of  the  Christmas  season  with  all  the  delight 
of  the  children.     Christmas  was  a  time  of  great  enjoyment  in  our 
home,  and  to  my  father  a  time  dearer  than  any  other  part  o    the 
year,  I  think.     From  our  earliest  years  he  was  the  farst,  the  best, 
the  truest  friend.     His  letters  written  to  us  are  filled  with  expres- 
sions of  love,  and  sweet  assurances  of  his  perfect  conhdence  that 
we  would  always  do  what  would  be  pleasing  to  him.     These 
letters  were  charmingly  adapted  to  our  childish  years.     He  had 
the  rare  power  of  entering  into  the  little  things  that  please  and 
interest  a  child.    Sometimes  his  letters  were  quite  merry,  abound- 
ing in  all  kinds  of  pleasantry,  others  were  fall  of  serious  talk  in 
reference  to  our  characters  and  aims  in  life.     He  sometimes  wrote 
to  his  small  namesakes  when  babies,  with  comical  messages  for 
the  baby  to  tell  Mamma,  etc     When  it  is  remembered  that  these 
form  a  part  of  an  enormous  daily  correspondence  of  a  man  who 
often  wrote  late  into  the  night,  not  daring  to  postpone  to  another 
day  the  answering  of  letters,  which  if  allowed  to  accumulate  would 
have  become  an  insurmountable  task,  one  cannot  l)nt  wonder  at 
his  never  neglecting  these  little  things,  as  many  might  have  felt 
justified  in  doing  under  similar  pressure. 

"  His  sweetness  of  temper  was  most  remarkable.  Only  in  the 
last  few  years  of  liis  life,  when  all  the  time  more  or  less  unwell, 
was  he  ever  irritable ;  and  then  so  rarely  that  it  was  only  notice- 
able because  it  came  from  one  whom  we  had  long  known  as 
amiable  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances.  When  I  was  a 
child,  I  do  not  remember  that  my  father  was  ever  cross  or  ever 
scolded;  and  I  recall  my  surprise  when  he  said  on  one  occasion 


366  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES   P.   BOYCE. 

that  he  considered  himself  to  have  a  very  quick  temper,  and 
that  he  had  to  exercise  great  self-control  very  often  when  others 
least  suspected  it.  And  when  sometimes  lie  found  it  necessary 
to  admonish  us,  it  was  always  done  with  so  much  tenderness 
that  we  loved  him  more  than  ever,  and  were  all  the  more 
anxious  to  atone  for  anything  that  did  not  meet  with  his  approval. 
In  sickness,  no  mother  could  have  been  more  tender  in  her  devo- 
tion, or  more  wise  in  her  ministration.  His  cool,  soft  hand  upon 
the  heated,  aching  head,  his  loving  sympathy,  his  thoughtfulness 
shown  in  so  many  little  ways,  —  it  was  no  wonder  that  w^e  thought 
him  the  ideal  of  parental  love. 

''  As  his  children  grew  older,  they  became  his  companions. 
He  interested  himself  in  everything  that  interested  them,  —  their 
pleasures,  their  friends,  their  studies.  He  was  the  first  to  appre- 
ciate any  taste  of  ours  in  any  particular  line,  and  was  most 
anxious  to  give  us  every  chance  of  improving  any  supposed 
talent.  When  he  took  lessons  with  us  in  French  and  German, 
he  bought  us  quantities  of  beautiful  books  and  magazines  to 
enhance  the  pleasure  of  the  studies,  and  to  give  us  every  possible 
help  in  acquiring  the  language." 

A  corresponding  wealth  of  affection  was  manifested 
towards  friends.  Even  little  children  were  strongly 
drawn  towards  him.  Mrs.  W.  L.  Pickard  has  written 
of  a  visit  he  paid  to  their  home  in  Eufaula,  in  March, 
1888,  and  among  other  things  mentions  that  her  little 
baby  girl  would  cry  to  go  to  him,  that  he  would  often 
take  her  in  his  arms  and  bless  and  kiss  her.  She  men- 
tions also  his  considerate  kindness  in  another  way.  She 
wished  to  sell  a  large  painting  in  order  to  make  a  per- 
sonal gift  to  the  Seminary,  but  he  would  not  hear  to  it, 
and  insisted  that  her  husband's  gift  was  enough  for  them 
both.  C.  H.  Nash,  of  Kentuck}^,  relates  an  incident  of 
the  session  of  1885-1886,  showing  the  warm  affection 
■which  existed  between  him  and  the  students.  The  class 
in  Theology  presented  him,  at  the  close  of  recitation 
one  day,  a  gold-headed  cane.  The  presentation  speaker, 
D.  M.  Pvamsey,  closed  by  saying,  as  he  handed  over  the 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF   CHARACTER.  3G7 

cane,  ''Dr.  Bojxe,  your  boys  stick  to  you."     Mr.   Xasli 
proceeds : — 

''  The  Grand  Old  Man  was  taken  completely  by  surprise,  and 
was  evidently  much  affected  by  the  slight  token  of  appreciation 
coming  so  unexpectedly.  I  never  saw  him  so  moved.  His  voice 
was  ])artly  choked  by  his  emotion,  as  he  replied  somewhat 
brokenly.  He  said  in  substance  that  he  appreciated  the  token 
of  affection  all  the  more  highly  because  he  had  felt  at  times  that 
he  was  not  understood  by  his  classes.  His  English  and  Latin 
Theology  he  knew  must  be  hard  and  dry  to  many,  while  the 
method  of  reciting  he  required,  and  his  examinations,  were  diffi- 
cult. He  said  he  knew  that  other  subjects  and  teachers  were 
more  interesting,  and  he  felt  sometimes  that  his  efforts  were  not 
appreciated,  but  that  in  his  love  and  interest  in  his  students  and 
their  success  he  yielded  the  palm  to  none.  We  were  all  touched, 
and  tears  glistened  in  many  eyes." 

When  his  death  was  announced,  the  first  brief  editorial 
notice  in  the  "Seminary  Magazine  ''  was  as  follows:  — 

*'No  word  from  us  can  express  what  Dr.  Boyce  was  to  his 
students.  It  was  one  of  those  sweet  and  tender  relations  that 
cannot  be  described,  and  can  be  understood  only  as  felt.  In 
behalf  of  those  who  studied  under  him,  we  have  tried  hard  to  say 
just  what  we  feel,  but  all  in  vain ;  fur,  try  as  we  may,  we  uncon- 
sciously penned  the  words,  '  He  loved  us,  ice  loved  him.^  Tlie 
hundreds  of  old  students  who  read  this  will  understand  it  without 
comment.  They  are  as  unable  to  explain  the  matter  as  we  are  ; 
they  can  only  say,  '  We  loved  him  J  " 

Of  the  warm  affection  which  existed  between  him  and 
his  colleagues,  especially  those  who  had  toiled  and  suffered 
with  him  from  the  beginning,  there  has  been  occasional 
indication  in  this  narrative,  and  no  attempt  can  be  made 
to  speak  of  it  further  now.  But  of  the  affection  which  he 
awakened  in  all  who  came  into  intimate  association  with 
him,  one  slfght  token  must  be  added.  Not  long  before  he 
left   for   Europe,    his  faithful   private   secretary  brought 


3G8  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

some  work  which  he  did  not  find  satisfactory;  and  being 
sensitive  through  disease,  he  complained  in  tones  of  irrita- 
tion. When  the  old  friend  was  leaving,  one  of  the  family 
expressed  regret  at  what  had  occurred,  saying,  *' You 
know  he  is  sick  now."  ^' Oh,  never  mind!''  was  the 
reply;  "he  scolds  prettier  than  any  other  man  in  the 
world." 

It  was  always  delightful  to  enter  Dr.  Boyce's  home  as 
a  guest.  His  cordial  and  graceful  courtes}^,  his  over- 
flowing kindness,  his  cheerful  and  genial  disposition,  had 
all  been  reinforced  by  lifelong  habit;  for  he  had  grown  up 
in  a  home  of  wealth  and  hospitality,  and  had  been  sur- 
rounded in  youth  by  homes  of  like  sort.  His  wife  kept 
everything  around  her  in  superb  condition,  and  Vvas  par- 
ticularl}'-  brilliant  in  conversation;  and  their  daughters 
were  growing  up  with  like  dispositions.  A  day  as  their 
guest,  or  even  a  single  meal,  was  a  thing  to  be  intensely 
enjoyed  and  long  remembered.  He  always  took  delight 
in  seeking  to  relieve  his  wife*  and  daughters  from  any 
burden  of  domestic  cares.  If  a  friend  was  to  leave  earl}'-, 
he  preferred  to  take  charge  in  person  of  the  domestic 
arrangements,  as  earl}^  rising  was  with  him  a  matter  of 
course.  And  yet,  though  he  could  manage  ever}- thing 
well  about  the  house,  and  took  pleasure  in  doing  so  upon 
occasion,  he  never  seemed  in  the  least  hard  to  please, 
either  in  his  own  home  or  in  the  homes  of  others. 

After  all,  the  most  remarkable  thing  in  Dr.  Boyce's 
constitution  and  character  was  the  rich  and  well-balanced 
comMnation  of  notable  qualities.  Almost  every  memorial 
address  or  article  after  his  death  took  notice  of  this  fact. 
Dr.  Williams,  of  the  ''Central  Baptist,"  said:  — 

''  He  had  every  reason  to  he  self-exalted ;  and  yet,  with  learn- 
ing, and  wealth,  and  social  position,  and  everything  desirable  in 
life,  as  the  world  views  it,  he  had  the  simplicity  and  humility 
of  a  child,  the  tenderness  of  a  woman,  and  the  strength  of  a 
giant." 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES   OF   CHARACTER.  3G9 

Dr.  Wliitsitt  said,  at  the  first  memorial  meeting  in  tlie 
Seminary :  — 

''  He  had  a  rare  comhination  of  quahties.  His  character  was 
greater  than  his  works.  The  chief  feature  of  his  character  was  its 
elevation.  He  grew  up  in  the  golden  age  of  the  Southern  nobil- 
ity, in  the  State  and  the  city  where  its  best  types  were  supplied. 
This  elevation  of  character  deserves  emulation.  He  had  also 
great  simplicity,  and  at  the  same  time  a  vigorous  sturdiness.  He 
had  convictions,  and  the  courage  of  them.  He  was  gentle  and 
accessible;  conservative,  and  yet  thoroughly  reasonable.  Nature 
made  him  great,  and  grace  made  him  greater.  He  will  be  one  uf 
the  landmarks  of  our  denominational  history." 

Dr.  Dargan  said,  at  the  memorial  meeting  of  the 
Southern   Baptist    Convention :  — 

*'  A  strong  character  lay  at  the  basis  of  all  that  Dr.  Boyce  was, 
and  gave  effect  and  worth  to  all  that  he  did.  A  strong  character 
is  not  the  gift  of  accident,  nor  is  it  the  work  of  a  day.  It  is  not 
only  the  condition  precedent  to  greatness  of  achievement,  it  is  itself 
achievement,  and  at  the  same  time  the  accompanying  and  ever- 
developiug  power  to  achieve.  The  fundamental  elements  of  strong 
character  are  a  clear  mind,  a  pure  heart,  and  a  powerful  will.  All 
these  were  notably  present  in  Dr.  Boyce.  He  was  a  thoughtful 
man,  —  capable  of  thought,  and  wisely  using  the  capability.  His 
powers  of  mind  were  perhaps  not  naturally  greater  than  those  of 
many  others ;  but  he  both  trained  and  used  them  well.  It  was 
no  way  of  his  to  say  and  do  things  that  had  not  honest,  hard 
thinking  back  of  them." 

And  Dr.  H.  H.  Tucker:  — 

''He  seems  to  have  inherited  the  business  talent  of  his  father, 
the  Hon.  Ker  Boyce,  who,  many  years  ago,  was  the  millionnaire 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Charleston,  and  a  man  of  wonderful 
business  sagacity.  Oh,  it  was  beautiful  to  see  James  Boyce  lay 
his  financial  talent,  which  might  have  brought  him  millions,  on 
the  altar  of  the  Lord  !  From  his  mother  he  seems  to  have  inherited 
the  spirit  of  meekness ;  and  where  was  there  ever  a  gentler  spirit 

24 


370  MEMOIR  OF  JAMES  P.   BOYCE. 

than  his  ?  He  was  tender  as  a  woman ;  his  artlessness  and  sim- 
plicity of  nature  were  like  a  little  child ;  yet  he  was  wise,  and  he 
was  brave,  and  when  some  great  emergency  called  for  a  man, 
there  was  Boyce  !  The  lion  and  the  lamb  lay  down  together  in 
his  breast,  and,  in  strange  antithesis,  he  possessed  the  qualities  of 
both.  I  know  no  better  eulogy  for  him  than  this  :  he  was  always 
just  what  the  occasion  demanded. 

'•'■  We  have  had  meu,  and  have  them  now,  superior  to  him  in  one 
particular  or  another ;  but  where  is  there  another  such  combination 
of  forces,  intellectual,  moral,  and  social,  that  completely  round  out 
the  character  of  a  man?  There  are  some  —  not  so  very  many  — 
who  excel  him  in  learning ;  some  —  a  considerable  number  —  who 
are  more  brilliant  ;  none  of  better-balanced  mind,  or  of  better- 
balanced  character,  none  of  more  trustworthy  judgment,  none 
more  soundly  orthodox,  none  of  profounder  convictions,  none  truer 
to  their  convictions,  none  more  industrious,  none  more  self- 
sacrificing,  none  more  generous,  none  more  genial  or  magnetic  in 
personal  intercourse,  and  not  one  who  combines  all  these  qualities 
in  a  character  so  full  of  power.  It  was  his  Washingtonian  even- 
ness of  development,  his  perfect  poise,  and  his  huge  motive  force, 
all  sanctified  by  grace,  that  made  him  great." 

Dr.  Arthur  Peter,  himself  a  man  of  sound  judgment 
and  wide  experience,  when  asked  what  he  thought  the 
most  notable  thing  in  Dr.  Bo3"ce's  character,  said,  ''The 
well-rounded  development  and  perfect  balance  of  all  his 
powers. '^  His  wife,  the  enthusiastic  and  ardent  friend, 
answered  a  similar  question  by  saying,  '^  Oh,  he  was  per- 
fect, —  the  most  perfect  mortal  man  I  ever  knew.''  Rev. 
G.  W.  Samson,  D.D.,  long  President  of  the  Columbian 
College  (University)  in  Washington,  and  now  in  New 
York  city,  wrote  some  months  after  his  death:  ''Dr.  Boyce 
was  in  every  respect  the  noblest  spirit  that  I  ever  met." 

From  all  this  gathered  eulogium  he  himself  would  have 
shrunk  in  grief  and  humiliation.  But  we  are  not  writing 
for  him,  but  of  him,  —  writing  for  the  comfort  of  those  who 
loved  him,  and  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  read  concerning 
his  character  and  work. 


GENERAL  ESTIMATES  OF   CHARACTER.  Oil 

When  John  Knox  died,  in  1573,  Beza  wrote  :  *<We 
have  been  afflicted  beyond  belief  by  the  death  of  Mr. 
Knox;  for  the  death  of  good  men  always  appears  pre- 
mature." Inscribed  on  the  wall  of  Knox's  house  in 
Edinburgh,  this  sentiment  has  no  doubt  awakened  a 
response  in  many  hearts  concerning  one  good  man  or 
another.  So  we  were  tempted  to  feel  about  the  death  of 
Boj'ce.  But  it  is  a  nobler  and  more  helpful  view  that  was 
suggested  to  us  all  by  Dr.  H.  H.  Tucker,  in  the  address 
already  quoted,  and  with  his  words  we  maj^  conclude :  — 

''  While  our  great  leaders  are  alive,  we  cannot  do  without  them. 
We  could  not  have  done  without  Boyce.  But  when  they  die,  we 
call  do  without  them.  God  never  takes  them  away  until  their 
work  is  done.  .  .  .  When  we  need  another  Boyce,  God  will  give 
him  to  us.  Now  the  cause  needs  us ;  and  whether  we  be  great 
or  small,  it  cannot  do  without  us.  Therefore,  let  us  renew  our 
zeal  and  consecration.  .  .  .  Blessed  bo  the  memory  of  Boyce  ! 
The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord  !  Be  still,  0  smitten  hearts  !  The  past  is  safe, 
—  we  can  look  back  and  see  it ;  the  present  is  safe, —  we  can  look 
around  and  see  it ;  the  future  is  hidden  from  us,  but  still  we  are 
just  as  certain  that  it  too  is  safe,  for  — 

*' '  Behind  the  dim  unknown 

Standeth  God  within  the  darkness, 
Keeping  watch  above  his  own. '  " 


0  Brother  beloved,  true  j^okefellow  through  years  of 
toil,  best  and  dearest  friend,  sweet  shall  be  thy  memory 
till  we  meet  again!  And  may  the  men  be  always  ready, 
as  the  years  come  and  go,  to  carry  on,  with  widening  reach 
and  heightened  power,  the  work  we  sought  to  do,  and 
did  begin  ! 


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